Supreme Court Cases meme

[miriamjoyce]

Lifted from several friends pages: As evidenced by Katie Couric, Sarah Palin is unable to name any Supreme Court Case other than Roe v. Wade.

The Rules: Post info about ONE Supreme Court decision, modern or historic. (Any decision, as long as it's not Roe v. Wade.)

(I'm assuming that the idea is to write about one that you could have named off the

Comments

Dread Scott

[rebyankl]

Sorry I don't remember the other party (I'm deliberately doing this off the top of my head, with no research). I also think the original question to Palin was name a SC decision you disagreed with other than Roe v. Wade, and I certainly disagree with this one which has been moot since 1865 anyway.

Dread Scott was a slave, origially in MO I think. He went with his master to a free state and sued for his freedom. The Supreme Court said slaves were property, not people, and had no standing to sue. This made it legal for slave owners to take slaves to free states and keep them in servitude. It outraged many people in free states and was a contributing factor towards the Civil War. (The decision was 1857 or 58, I think)

If I remember correctly, the owner was actually supportive of the enterprise and wanted to set a precedent against slavery in the free states, but it backfired.

Cases

[iccubis]

I actuly had to think A bit about this. I could name many cases but most of them where ones I agreed with and very little I did not agree with.....Perchance thats how my brain works, thinking of the positive but then I actuly had the Duh moment about a case I just red about this summer that realy set the stage for many other court cases both federal and state for years to come. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)was a case where a 1/8 African american (octaroon) was on a "White only" rail car and was fined and brought the case all the way to the Sup.Court. It faild and Seprate but equal was started but it realy was not equal at all. Anyhow this effected 2 things made the case for seprate but equal and strangly made a case that states can determin what "black" was so Luisiana was able to do the one drop rule. They never standerdized race till late 70's or 80's.
-g

[maxellute]

Brown V Board of Ed.