The Supreme Court’s continued interpretation of the constitution has helped define American values and explore how the Founding Fathers intended different political systems to function. With each decision the Supreme Court makes, important legal precedent is set for all courts to follow. Cases about everything from potentially violated individual rights to disagreements about the manifestations of democracy are argued and decided at the Supreme Court level and cannot be further appealed. While all cases are important, there are some that set particularly crucial precedent that still affect Americans today including Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803), Tinker v. DMICSD, 393 U.S. 503 (1969), and Citizens United v. FEC, 558 U.S. 310 (2010).
In 1801, John Adams created many new judgeships in his last week as president and filled the positions with people from his own political party, the Federalists. Marbury was one of the last appointments, but the paperwork to make it official wasn’t completed when Thomas Jefferson, from the opposing political party the Democratic Republicans, was inaugurated. Jefferson had Marbury’s position withheld, so Marbury went to the U.S. Supreme Court and asked them to order a writ of mandamus for Jefferson’s Secretary of State to complete his paperwork so he could assume the position (History.com). In Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803), the Court ruled that Marbury’s position could not be withheld just because the paperwork wasn’t official because the political decision to appoint him had already been made. Instead of ordering a writ of mandamus to Jefferson’s administration however and risk the court’s power being challenged by it being ignored, Chief Justice John Marshall reasoned that since the Supreme Court had original jurisdiction of the case, it would be improper if they ordered a writ of mandamus (Landmark Cases). Therefore, he masterfully established the Supreme Court’s power of judicial review and interpretation of the constitution. Marshall also reasoned that it was those who framed the constitution intended to give the judicial branch the power of interpretation of the document no matter how cases get to the Supreme Court (Cornell Law School).
In 1965, three teenagers wore black armbands to school as a silent protest of the United States’ participation in the Vietnam war. Their school told them to remove the armbands, otherwise they would be suspended. The students refused, and they were suspended so their parents filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines Independent Community School District for infringing on their children’s first amendment right to freedom of speech and protest. The lower court decided the school was within it’s right to suspend the children for refusing to remove the armbands in order to maintain discipline, so the families appealed to the Supreme Court (Khan Academy). On February 24, 1969, the Supreme Court decided Tinker v. DMICSD, 393 U.S. 503 (1969), that the armbands counted as “symbolic speech”, and the children’s peaceful protest did not disrupt the learning environment, so they were within their first amendment rights to wear them in school without facing suspension. The Court that decided this case, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, was characterized by it’s many decisions that expanded civil rights (Oyez).
In 2008 right before the presidential election, the conservative corporation Citizens United wanted to release a documentary that negatively portrayed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. However, they knew that the Federal Election Commission would claim the film was against Section 203 of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act that prohibits corporations from funding propaganda about political candidates. So they went to the District Courts to argue that they should be able to legally release it because the legislation doesn’t apply to the movie. The District Courts ruled against Citizens United, so they appealed to the Supreme Court (Cornell Law School). On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court decided the Citizens United v. FEC, 558 U.S. 310 (2010) case in a 5-4 opinion that any corporations is within their first amendment freedom of speech rights to use funds for political advertising and campaigning. The controversial ruling overturned several previous pieces of legislation and court decisions (Brittanica). Most of the justices at the time were conservative leaning in their ideologies, including Chief Justice John Roberts who voted with the majority (Oyez).
Cases decided at the Supreme Court level deal with issues that can affect anyone. Even cases that happened years ago can still be compared to issues going on today. For Marbury’s case for example, the judicial branch still exercises its power of judicial review that this case established, and political figures also still tend to fill positions in government with people in their own political party to gain more power. Questions about the true meaning of symbolic speech still come up too like in Tinker’s case. When Kaepernick knelt for the national anthem in one of his football games, some argued that his actions were disrespectful and don’t constitute symbolic speech, while some reasoned that his First Amendment rights protected his actions. The case most recently decided, that of Citizens United, is also still relevant because corporations frequently contribute to political propaganda around election times by paying for advertisements and financially endorsing certain candidates. These actions can affect how the company’s supporters think of candidates and discuss political issues, much like how this documentary spurred negative thoughts about Hillary Clinton in viewers minds right before the election.
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