Landmark Supreme Court Cases: Rights and Freedoms

Landmark Supreme Court Case Summaries

First Amendment and Privacy Rights Cases

• Planned Parenthood v. Casey: Established the Undue Burden Standard; states can require parental notification for minors (with judicial bypass).
• Bowers v. Hardwick: Upheld state laws criminalizing sodomy (later overturned by Lawrence v. Texas).
• Cruzan v. Mo. Department of Health: Recognized the right to refuse life-sustaining treatment (Right to Die).
• Griswold v. Connecticut: Established the fundamental right to privacy regarding marital contraception.
• Regents of Univ. of California v. Bakke: Addressed affirmative action; race can be a factor in admissions, but numerical quotas are unconstitutional.
• Engel v. Vitale: Mandatory school prayer violates the Establishment Clause.
• Wisconsin v. Yoder: Exempted Amish students from compulsory education past the eighth grade based on the Free Exercise Clause.
• Edwards v. Aguillard: Struck down mandated teaching of creation science if evolution is taught.
• Employment Division v. Smith: Use of peyote is not protected by the Free Exercise Clause if prohibited by a generally applicable law.
• Abington School District v. Schempp: Mandatory Bible reading in public schools is unconstitutional.
• County of Allegheny v. ACLU: Display of a nativity scene on public property violates the Establishment Clause; menorah display permitted.
• Lee v. Weisman: Clergy-led prayer at public school graduation ceremonies is unconstitutional.
• Miller v. California: Defined the legal test for obscenity.
• Texas v. Johnson: Flag burning is protected symbolic speech.
• Brandenburg v. Ohio: Established the imminent lawless action test for restricting speech (related to KKK speech).
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan: Established the "actual malice" standard for libel against public officials.
• R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul: Struck down a hate speech ordinance as content-based discrimination (related to cross burning).
• Dennis v. United States: Upheld convictions under the Smith Act using the "clear and probable danger" test.
• Tinker v. Des Moines: Students wearing armbands protected as symbolic speech unless it causes substantial disruption.
• United States v. O'Brien: Upheld conviction for draft card burning; government interest in maintaining the draft outweighs symbolic speech.

Legal Scenarios and Precedents

• Scenario 1: Saturday School Requirements

  • Saturday school requirements would be permitted even if they burden Orthodox Jewish practices.

  • Braunfeld v. Brown Precedent

    • Although burdensome for shops required to close on both Saturday (Sabbath) and Sunday (State law), the Sunday closing law was held constitutional.
    • The freedom to hold religious beliefs is absolute, but the freedom to act based on those beliefs is subject to government regulation.
    • The law had a secular basis (day of rest) and did not make specific religious practices unlawful.
  • Similar to Braunfeld, a generally applied Saturday school requirement does not serve to prohibit religious practices.

• Scenario 2: Cantwell v. Connecticut

  • Facts: A Jehovah’s Witness was convicted under a solicitation statute for breach of the peace.
  • Rule: A state may prohibit speech if it amounts to a breach of the peace, which creates not only violent acts, but also incites violence in others.
  • Issue/Holding: Did the solicitation statute or the "breach of the peace" ordinance violate the Cantwells' First Amendment free speech or free exercise rights? Yes.
    • While general regulations on solicitation were legitimate, restrictions based on religious content were not.
    • Maintenance of public order was a valid state interest, but it could not justify suppressing the "free communication of views."
    • The Cantwells' message, while offensive, did not entail a threat of "bodily harm" and was protected religious speech.
    • The right to believe is absolute; the right to act can be regulated through time, place, and manner restrictions.