Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Does the constitution recognize a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy by abortion?

Answer explanation

Yes, inherent in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is a fundamental “right to privacy” that protects a pregnant woman’s choice whether to have an abortion.

A 5-4 Supreme Court majority held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees the right to marry as one of the fundamental liberties it protects, and that analysis applies to same-sex couples in the same manner as it does to opposite-sex couples.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time."

The 14th Amendment intended to establish absolute equality for the races before the law, but held that separate treatment did not imply the inferiority of African Americans. Hence, the concept of "separate but equal" was upheld.

"The freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State."

“A negro, whose ancestors were imported into [the U.S.], and sold as slaves,' whether enslaved or free, could not be an American citizen and therefore did not have standing to sue in federal court."

Answer explanation

The 14th Amendment, and the citizenship clause therein, was adopted in 1868 to rectify this decision.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Is the desecration of an American flag, by burning or otherwise, a form of speech that is protected under the First Amendment?

Answer explanation

Yes, burning of a flag is protected expression under the First Amendment. "[I]f there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable."

Did the President [Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Executive Order for Internment Camps] and Congress go beyond their war powers by implementing exclusion and restricting the rights of Americans of Japanese descent?

Answer explanation

No, the Executive Order did not show racial prejudice but rather responded to the strategic imperative of keeping the U.S. and particularly the West Coast (the region nearest Japan) secure from invasion as a “martial necessity arising from the danger of espionage and sabotage.”

Decades later, the U.S. government disbursed $3.5 billion in reparations to 82,219 Japanese Americans who had been interned.

When charged in Florida state court with felony breaking and entering, he appeared in court without a lawyer. He then requested that the court appoint one for him. The trial court did not appoint one. He represented himself in trial, was found guilty, and sentenced to five years in prison. Does the Sixth Amendment's right to counsel in criminal cases extend to felony defendants in state courts?

Answer explanation

Yes, the Sixth Amendment guarantees the accused the right to the assistance of counsel in all criminal prosecutions and requires courts to provide counsel for defendants unable to hire counsel unless the right was competently and intelligently waived.

Is the President's right to safeguard certain information, using his "executive privilege" confidentiality power, entirely immune from judicial review?

Answer explanation

No. The president must obey Congressional subpoenas.