Ellery Grenzebach
Ms.Gordon
AP U.S. Government & Politics
8/21/19
There are certain cases in U.S. Supreme Court history that are classified as “Landmark Cases.” Here we will investigate three of them and their applicability to present day. Brown vs. Board of Education (347 US 483 (1954)) was the fight for educational equality and diversity in schools. Roe vs. Wade (410 US 113 (1973)) was the struggle for female fundamental rights. Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission (558 US 310 (2010)) modified the system of political funding and electioneering in ways Americans have yet to fully understand. The verdicts of these cases have been applauded, questioned, and highly criticized for the way they have affected the U.S. government and society since they were enacted.
First argued December 9, 1952, and officially decided upon on May 17, 1954, Brown V. BOE was the dispute over whether racial segregation in American schools defied the guidelines of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and was therefore unconstitutional. The argument began when a black man named Oliver Brown filed a lawsuit against the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas because his daughter was restricted from attending the all-white elementary schools. At the time, racial equality had supposedly been achieved since black and white public schools were previously deemed “separate but equal” in the 1896 court case Plessy V. Ferguson. Once rejected by the Topeka Board of Education, the case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by Brown’s attorney and Chief Counsel of the NAACP, Thurgood Marshall. The fairly liberal Court unanimously decided the “separate but equal” doctrine was, in fact, unequal, and ruled that segregated schooling was not in compliance with the Fourteenth Amendment which guaranteed all persons equal protection of governmental laws, including African-Americans. Chief Justice Warren was responsible for delivering the court’s opinion; its unanimous nature was largely due to Warren’s progressive and liberal viewpoints on racial equality, views informed by his attention to changing public opinions of the time. Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas brought drastic changes and largely inspired the Civil Rights Movement of the United States.
In 1970, a woman named Norma McCorvey (“Jane Roe” to protect her identity) filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, the District Attorney of Dallas County, Texas where she lived. Jane Roe, 20 years old at the time, sought to terminate an unwanted pregnancy but found that a state law restricted her from abortion unless a doctor performed one in order to save “the life of the mother.” She argued that this law opposed her constitutional right to privacy, seen in the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Wade rejected her request and continued to prosecute doctors who performed illegal abortions. The case was then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by Roe’s Attorney, Robert Flowers, where it was reargued, and eventually concluded in a 7-2 decision in favor of Roe. The opinion delivered by the majority liberal court ruled that a woman’s right to an abortion is protected by the ideas/ideals of personal liberty, present in the Fourteenth Amendment. Harry Blackmun, who delivered the court’s consensus used the Due Process Clause to defend Roe’s case. The clause says all persons are entitled to the “right to privacy,” therefore the Constitution protects a woman’s decision to terminate or not terminate a pregnancy. This critical decision legalized safe abortion nationwide and granted women the freedom to choose.
In 2008, a nonprofit conservative organization called Citizens United, sued the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in order to transgress the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) in hopes of releasing their documentary, Hillary: The Movie. The film strongly criticized Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton saying she was unfit for the Democratic nomination and the office of POTUS. At that time, the BCRA prevented corporations or labor unions from “electioneering communications” that refer to federal candidates running for office. Citizens United argued that the BCRA was unconstitutional, violating freedom of speech as outlined by the First Amendment. The District Court favored the FEC, ruling against Citizens United on all counts. The case received much attention in the news media and on newly-influential social media, and the Supreme Court agreed to review it, giving Citizens United the opportunity to reargue. The final 5-4 verdict was rendered on January 1, 2010, where the majority of the Court agreed the First Amendment protects a person’s freedom of speech, even if that “person” is a corporation. The four conservative justices voted in favor of overturning the BCRA, while the four liberal justices dissented, leaving Justice Anthony Kennedy, a known swing vote, to complete the final 5-4 verdict. Kennedy wrote and delivered the majority opinion of the Court, deciding the Federal Election Committee's Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, enacted in 2002, violated the First Amendment’s freedom of speech principle, and Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. voted in agreement. Known as one of the most controversial Supreme Court verdicts of all time, Citizens United v. FEC unleashed the influence of big money in American politics like never before.
Although these cases are in the past, the issues that sparked them are still relevant today. Brown vs. the Board of Education sought to settle the dispute over segregation in schools, but schooling in the U.S. is still not equal for all races. Roe vs. Wade can also be seen as extremely pertinent. Now that Brett Kavanaugh has been confirmed to the Supreme Court, women’s fundamental right to make choices about their own healthcare is at extreme risk. If abortion is made illegal nationwide, as we already have seen in states such as Ohio, Georgia, and Missouri where they have passed the Heartbeat Bill, 1 in every 4 women in America will be forced to birth an unwanted child. The issues of Citizens United vs. FEC are also still timely. The 2010 verdict has caused large corporations to have inordinate control over candidates and federal elections, allowing the wealthiest members of American society to control the government. These three cases are strong illustrations of how Supreme Court opinions can have longterm effects on the lives of Americans, well into future generations.
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