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LANDMARK SUPREME COURT CASES

8th Grade Exit Project

Exit Project: Case Study of a Landmark Supreme Court Case

Your project will consist of three main parts


I.
a. b. c. d.

Case Study:
review the facts of the case discuss the issues presented by the case discuss the arguments evaluate the decision made by the Supreme Court.

II. III.

Visual Representation of the Case Presentation of the Case Study

Brown v. Board of Education, 1954 : JM, AB, AV


Since the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling on separate but equal facilities, racial segregation dominated the United States, especially in the South. In the 1950s segregated facilities included schools. Linda Brown and her family believed that racial segregation violated the fourteenth amendment and took their case to court. Federal district court decided that because the all-white and all-black schools were similar that racial segregation was legal. The Browns later appealed their case to the Supreme Court stating that segregated schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Miranda v. Arizona, 1966: JA, LM, JR


In 1963 police in Arizona arrested Ernesto Miranda for kidnapping. The court found Miranda guilt on the basis of a signed confession. The police questioning him did not inform him of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, or his Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of an attorney. Miranda appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court, claiming the police violated him on the basis of the Fifth Amendment.

Tinker v. Des Moines, 1969: SV, VM, YS

During the Vietnam War John and Mary Beth Tinker of Des Moines, Iowa, wore black armbands to their public school as a symbol of protest against American involvement in the Vietnam War. When school authorities asked that the Tinkers remove their armbands, they refused and were subsequently suspended. The students argued that school officials violated their First Amendment right to free speech.

Roe v. Wade, 1973: LJ, AC, JJ


Roe v. Wade challenged restrictive abortion laws in both Texas and Georgia. The suit was brought in the name of Jane Roe, an alias used to protect the privacy of the plaintiff. Roe filed suit against Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, arguing the statue on the grounds that it violated the guarantee of personal liberty and the right to privacy guaranteed in the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

New Jersey v. T.L.O., 1985: TM, JC, AR

A New Jersey high school student was accused of violating school rules by smoking in the bathroom, leading an assistant principal to search her purse for cigarettes. The vice principal discovered marijuana and other items that implicated the student in dealing marijuana. The student tried to have the evidence from her purse suppressed, challenging that simple possession of cigarettes was not a violation of school rules; therefore, a desire for evidence of smoking in the restroom did not justify the search.

Regents of the U. of California v. Bakke, 1978: CP & MI

In the early 1970s, the medical school of the University of California at Davis devised a dual admissions program to increase representation of disadvantaged minority students. Allan Bakke was a white male who applied to and was rejected from the regular admissions program, while minority applicants with lower grade point averages and testing scores were admitted under the specialty admissions program. Bakke filed suit, stating that the admissions system violated the Equal Protection Clause and excluded him on the basis of race.

Gideon v. Wainwright, 1963: MV, KF, SP

In June 1961, a burglary occurred at the Bay Harbor Pool Room in Panama City, FL. Police arrested Clarence Earl Gideon after he was found nearby with a pint of wine and some change in his pockets. Gideon, who could not afford a lawyer, asked a Florida Circuit Court judge to appoint one for him arguing that the Sixth Amendment entitles everyone to a lawyer. The judge denied his request and Gideon was left to represent himself. He did a poor job of defending himself and was found guilty of breaking and entering and petty larceny. While serving his sentence in a Florida state prison, Gideon began studying law, which reaffirmed his belief his rights were violated when the Florida Circuit Court refused his request for counsel. From his prison cell, he handwrote a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case and it agreed.

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