Mrs. Ruland's United States History Class
Significant Supreme Court Decisions - G/T
The Supreme Court has filled a vital role in American history. The Court (always capitalized when referring to the Supreme Court) has interpreted laws and created precedents that have had the effect of laws. The Court's actions have ensured that the Constitution does not become an ancient artifact, but remains a living document.
Each student will choose one Supreme Court decision (first come, first served and no partners). Students will research their case and prepare a short (3-5 minutes) presentation to the class. Presentations will be made when the class arrives at that time period in the course. Since the presentations will span the whole year, grades will be applied to the 4th quarter marking period.
- Munn v. Illinois, 1877
- Wabash v. Illinois, 1886
- Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. 1894
- United States v. E.C. Knight Co., 1895
- In re Debs, 1895
- Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
- United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 1898
- Lochner v. New York, 1905
- Muller v. Oregon, 1908
- Weeks v. United States, 1914
- Hammer v. Dagenhart, 1918
- Schenck v. United States, 1919
- Bailey v. Drexel Furniture Company, 1922
- Adkins v. Children's Hospital
- United States v. Butler, 1936
- Korematsu v. United States, 1944
- Yates v. United States, 1957
- Mapp v. Ohio, 1961
- Gideon v. Wainwright, 1963
- Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965
- Miranda v. Arizona, 1966
- Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 1966
- In re Gault, 1967
- Loving v. Virginia, 1967
- Epperson v. Arkansas, 1968
- Tinker v. Des Moines, 1969
- Lemon v. Kurtzman, 1971
- NY Times v. United States, 1971
- Furman v. Georgia, 1972
- Roe et. at. v. Wade, 1973
- Lau v. Nichols, 1974
- United States v. Richard M. Nixon, 1974
- Regents of Univ. of Cal. v. Bakke, 1978
- New Jersey v. T.L.O., 1985
- Goldman v. Weinberger, 1986
- Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, 1988
- Texas v. Johnson, 1989
- Cruzon v. Missouri Dept. of Health, 1990
- Cipollone v. Leggett Group, 1992
- Vernonia School District v. Acton, 1995
- United States v. Virginia, 1996
PRESENTATION REQUIREMENTS: (60 points)
- COHERENT, INFORMATIVE presentation (10 pts)
- SUCCINCT notes on a transparency - in own words (10 pts)
- Original case (10 pts)
- parties involved on both sides
- particulars of the case and the ruling
- (If your case was first heard in the Supreme Court and not in any lower court, explain why that was the case; explain the issue of original jurisdiction)
- Supreme Court case (10
pts)
- Constitutional principle behind the appeal
- Legal argument (10 pts)
- State the argument for and against application of the constitutional principle to this case
- Opinion (10 pts)
- Opinion of the Court - author, number of concurring justices, ruling, reason
- Dissenting Opinion - author, number of dissenting justices, reason
Cornell University has a wonderful WWW site with full text reports of all these cases. Information can be found at http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/historic.htm The GHS Media Center has a good reference volume - Great American Court Cases (REF 349.73GR) as well as some individual volumes of Landmark Supreme Court Cases (349.73)
Last updated July 15, 2004
© Marcella Ruland 1998-2009, All rights reserved
