Other America, The: Rise of the Civil Rights Movement, The
The 1950s are not as calm and contented as the politics and popular culture of the era suggest. After decades of strained relations, an open battle against racial segregation begins. A series of suits challenge the constitutionality of paying black...
Other America, The: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka came to the Supreme Court in May 1954. Unlike many court decisions that affect only a few, this decision would impact millions of children. Chief Justice Earl Warren puts off the implementation phase for a year ...
Presidency, The: Challenges of Governing
Presidential advisor, political analyst and university professor David Gergen talks about some of the factors that have changed the fabric of political institutions in America and made governing more difficult than ever before. These factors include...
Legal Precedent: Proper Role of the Judiciary
The word "activist," often used in reference to court decisions, can have quite different meanings. The Warren court, for example, departed in many ways from decisions of the past and was critical to the struggle for inclusion by communities of colo...
Legal Precedent: Legislating from the Bench
Because the judiciary's duties are not defined in the Constitution, its role in the policy-making arena is often debated. The Supreme Court's mandate says Michael Perry, "is not to do justice as the justices understand justice....It is rather to mak...
Legal Precedent: Legal Precedent
Another source of law in judicial decision-making traces its origin to the British common-law tradition known as precedent. The idea is that like cases should be decided alike. The Supreme Court generally follows its precedents because it is conside...
Relationship Between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, The
Historian Peter Onuf explores the complicated personal relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Professor Onuf explains that the two worked very closely for years, but then went through a period of strained relations after Jefferson cha...
Most Basic of Rights, The: Implied Right of Privacy, The
In 1965 the Supreme Court added privacy to the list of protections, reasoning that the freedoms in the Bill of Rights imply an underlying right of privacy. In succeeding decades that interpretation has led to several controversial decisions like Roe...
Most Basic of Rights, The: Increased Protection for Free Speech
Protections for free speech increased throughout the 20th century. In reviewing cases that arose from the Espionage Act in World War I, the Supreme Court established a "clear and present danger" standard. Even during the McCarthy era, the idea of cr...
The Nation's Welfare: Court and Public Assistance Programs, The
The court has placed its imprint on public assistance programs by correcting the disparities in welfare benefits among states. Most of the cases that have come before the court era were clear examples of discrimination against African Americans. Wha...