Summer Assignment 2019
By: Nikki Garcia
Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Roe vs. Wade and Citizens United vs. FEC are three cases that are essential SCOTUS major cases that made an impact on American history.
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. We already have seen in states such as Ohio, Georgia, and Missouri, where they have passed the Heartbeat Bill. These three cases are energetic illustrations of how Supreme Court opinions can have long term effects on the lives of Americans, well into future generations.
Roe V. Wade (410 US 113 (1973)) was during the time of 1969, a woman named Norma McCorvey, a Texas woman in her early 20s, sought to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. McCorvey had a hard childhood; she also had given birth twice already and given up both of the children for adoption. During the time of McCorvey’s pregnancy, abortion was legal in Texas but only to save a woman’s life. In court documents, McCorvey became known as Jane Roe for protection. On June 1970, a Texas district court ruled that the state’s abortion ban was illegal because it violated a constitutional right to privacy. Afterward, Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas declared he would not stop prosecuting doctors who performed abortions. The case was later appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. During the time, McCovey gave birth to the child and put it up for adoption. Brown V. BOE (347 U.S 483 (1954)) was a case which was determining whether school segregation was justified or not by claiming that schools are "separate but equal." In 1896, the Supreme Court set a precedent that the separation of public facilities would be legal in the United States in the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson. The phrase "separate but equal" came from the precedent from Plessy V. Ferguson. However, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) helped Oliver Brown filed a lawsuit against the Board of Education of Topeka in 1951. Oliver's daughter, Linda Brown was not allowed to attend the all-white elementary schools in Topeka, Kansas. Brown thought that segregating schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court chose to take the case to determine if separate were equal. It was also argued that segregated school systems had a tendency to make black children feel inferior to white children. Citizens United vs. FEC (558 U.S. 310 (2010)) was a case was about a conservative group called Citizens United, who wanted to air a documentary about Hilary Clinton following her running for President in 2008. Citizens United made a documentary to corrupt her chances of winning. They were previously aware that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) would claim that the film is against Section 203 of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. Which prohibits corporations from funding propaganda against political parties. 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. Initially, the FEC won, and the law was upheld. However, Citizens United filed a case to the Supreme Court, which took the ruling and eventually led to the claim being overturned.
Roe V. Wade (410 US 113 (1973)) case was issued on January 22, 1973, in which Supreme Court decided on a 7-2 decision. They concluded that the Texas statute banning abortion is unconstitutional, and they effectively were legalizing the abortion procedure across the United States. The Supreme Court declared that in the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, citizens are given the right to privacy including a woman’s right to an abortion and to do what she pleases with her body. The court divided pregnancy into three trimesters. This critical decision legalized safe abortion nationwide and granted women the freedom to choose. For the case of Brown V. BOE (347 U.S 483 (1954)), the Supreme Court Justices were deeply divided over the issues raised. While most wanted to reverse the Plessy precedent and declare segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. They were unable to come to a solution by June 1953, which was the end of the Court's term. The Court then reheard the case on December 1953, but during that time Chief Justice Fred Vinson died. Gov. Earl Warren of California then replaced him. On May 14, 1954, Chief Justice Warren was able to bring all of the Justices to agree to support a unanimous decision of 9-0, declaring segregation in public schools unconstitutional. For the Citizens United vs. FEC (558 U.S. 310 (2010)) on January 1, 2010, the final 5-4 verdict was the majority of the Court agreed the First Amendment protects a person's freedom of speech, even if that "person" is a corporation. The majority opinion of the Court, decided the Federal Election Committee's Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, violated the First Amendment's freedom of speech principle. The Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. voted in agreement. Therefore, siding with Citizens United.
Roe V. Wade (410 US 113 (1973)). What should have been a conservative Supreme Court made a very liberal ruling. The Chief Justice Warren Burger, Lewis Powell, Byron White, William Rehnquist are known to be on the conservative side of Justices. Potter Stewart is known to be on the moderate side of Justices. William J. Brennan, William O. Douglas, Thurgood Marshall, and Harry Blackmun are known to be on the liberal side of justices. Conservative Republican presidents nominated most of the Justices on the Court. So one would assume that this Court should have been majority conservative. However, once the case was heard, they made the pro-choice ruling. The Court made its decision based upon the privacy clause in the Fourteenth Amendment. Which essentially states that women not getting an abortion due to the law is technically a violation of their right to privacy. Upon this, the Supreme Court decided that abortions cannot be outlawed in the United States. The US. Chief Justice Burger voted against the ban, and the vote ended up being 7-2 for Roe. Despite the conservative tendencies of the President who hired him, Chief Justice Burger ran a very moderate to liberal court. This case was originated by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Roe filed the lawsuit against Wade claiming the Texas law on abortion violated her rights. This case mostly relates to the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. This case refers mainly to the amendment because it ensures that citizens have a right to privacy and reproductive rights fall into it. The laws were a threat to pregnant women’s privacy, and the 14th amendment protects the privacy of all American citizens. Brown V. BOE (347 U.S 483 (1954)), The Supreme Court at this time, was made up of nine white men; however, there was a liberal majority. The Court is perceived as progressive due to the unanimous ruling that segregation should be outlawed. Although the Court was divided, Earl Warren brought them all together, the majority of the Justices were on the moderate or liberal side. The Chief Justice was Earl Warren, who at the time belonged to the Republican Party. Due to him being so opinionated towards Brown, it swayed the other judges making the decision unanimous. However, it has been said that Warren exercised his power as Chief Justice to reach the ruling he wanted. A decision could not be made with Chief Justice Vinson because he wanted to maintain “separate but equal” ideals. However, then Chief Justice Warren managed to get all of the judges to vote with Brown. This originated in Topeka, Kansas, the local conservative Court heard the case and ruled that separate was still equal. The amendment that relates closest to this case would be the 14th Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause in that amendment. The bill states that the government cannot pass laws restricting the rights of American born citizens. The amendment that’s closest related to the case is the 14th amendment which states that all Americans are equally protected — noted that it was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The segregation in schools was violating this because the white schools had more resources than the all-black schools. Citizens United vs. FEC (558 U.S. 310 (2010)) The court was made up of mostly conservative justices with some liberal justices. The judges on this case were John Roberts, John P. Stevens, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor. The Chief Justice at the time was John Roberts. The decision was highly controversial among the American public. John Roberts, the Chief Justice voted for Citizens United, he was the tiebreaker and therefore the reason Citizens United won the case. The case originated in the US district courts, and they sided with the FEC. This case relates most closely to the First Amendment because even though citizen is giving freedom of speech, restricting the movie was limiting their ideas and expression. Citizens United argued that this freedom of speech should apply to corporations as well, not just individuals.
Today President Trump and several other Republican leaders are trying to outlaw abortion. Lately, on the news, we see southern states making laws that remove the right for women to choose whether they want/ need an abortion. Since Roe v. Wade, many states have made restrictions that weaken abortion rights. We are currently living in a society that thinks it’s fine to commit hate crimes. We are repeating history slowly. We are going back to banning abortions, back to neo-nazis, back to KKK phrases. It seems like the country is continuously going back and making the same errors. America is racist, sexist, full of bigotry, and white supremacy.
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