1846-1950's Judicial System

The Supreme Court was important in both suppressing and aiding the Civil Rights Movement. However, decisions taken by the President, the continued white opposition and improvements in media communications also had an effect. Although all were important, the Civil Rights movement alone would have reached the same end without the help of the Supreme Court, and the devotion of its many members and leaders is the major factor in advancing Civil Rights.

The Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case was a very important case for Americans. This case was a United States Supreme Court case in where the court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be against the constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in this court case changed the history of race relations in the United States. On May 17, 1954, the Court got rid of segregation by race in schools, and made all education opportunities equal as the law of the land. Without this case, we would not be where we are today. It shaped the United States completely as a whole. It was the first time something regarding race was put a lot of emphasis on. This case redefined our nation's values and ideals, and

To compare, the two cases “Plessy V. Ferguson” and the “Brown V. Board of Education” were protesting the rights of people with color and how we should all be equal even if our skin is a different color. At first Plessy’s case was ruled unconstitutional until after Brown brought his case to court and it was constitutional, so now Plessy’s case will now be signed and ratified to become a law. The case “Brown v. Board of Education” will forever be one of the most revolutionary cases of all time. If it weren’t for people like this who stand up for what they believe in then we would still be

When the English were colonizing North America, they brought with them their laws. Being from the British Common Law system, the settlers understood how that system worked, so they modeled their own government using Common Law.

The Plessy V. Ferguson and Brown V. Board of Education are two cases that changed the way that we live today in a quite dramatic way. The Plessy V. Ferguson was a case that promoted segregation. The majority voted for segregation and the minorities opposed the idea and the key precedent that was established after this case was that the U.S. Supreme Court didn't base their trial off of the constitution and instead based their trial upon the statement 'separate but equal'. The Brown V. Board of Education case was a case that completely opposed the idea of 'separate but equal' because the whole case revolved around the fact that a mother wanted her children to go to a school that was easier to get to however it was a school that was only for white children so the mother decided to take the case to court and the majority voted on letting the African American students attend white schools and the minorities voted otherwise. The key precedent that was established after this case was that segregation in schools violates the 14th amendment and it should not be permitted by the U.S. Supreme Court. These two cases were important for the transformation for the America we have today, and they influenced America's thought process and actions significantly.

The landmark case of Plessy v. Ferguson is a Constitutional case in which it had to be decided who the constitution meant when it said "all men are created equal." This case is very important to our constitution and to the people being governed by the constitution because it brought up issues that hadn't been discussed in the U.S before. This case shows the degree of federalism and how much the government paid attention to it. The amendments in the constitution do not apply to a simple race or ethnicity. Throughout history laws have been made and destroyed at the cost of colored people, in the Plessy v. Ferguson case it is shown that due to the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments all citizens have equal protection under the law. Plessy was denied his right, as well as other colored people because they belonged to different bathrooms, they belonged to different train cars and they belonged to different water fountains at this time in history, but Plessy'

Ferguson case of 1896 in which the Supreme Court upheld the legality of racial segregation. At the time of the case, segregation between blacks and whites already existed in most schools, restaurants and other public facilities. In the Plessy v. Ferguson case, the Supreme Court that such of a segregation did not violate the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. The 14th Amendment provided equal protection of law to all U.S. citizens regardless of the citizens race. The court ruled that the Plessy v. Ferguson case was legal as long as black and whites were equal. After this law came to be, public schools, public transportation and other public facilities were made separate; but they never had made these places equal. Equality represents what the United States stands for. We the people work together in marches, protests to oppose discrimination on the basis of race and gender. The Sacco and Vanzetti case showed the world that the how justice system in the United States really was. Sacco and Vanzetti received an unfair trial and were sentenced to death, not due to the evidence being presented, but due to their political beliefs and ethnic backgrounds. As Americans, we tend to be afraid of what happens and due to these fears we forget about what it truly means to be an American. This is the world we live in and quite some times, things are unfair; it’s the way the world

The Fifth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth amendment were implemented to protect American citizens. The declaration says “all men are created equal” (Jacobus, 412), these amendments are in place to protect our rights and keep us safe. The Fifth Amendment states that no person shall “….Be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law….” (Jacobus, 412) However even though we have these laws here to protect us, discrimination plagued our country and did not grant rights to certain groups of minorities because of skin color, race, or religion. Throughout our history there were many instances of this unfairness, for example “Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Company.” (Jacobus, 412) This case was a huge breakthrough in the fight against segregation, saying that any form of discrimination is a “badge of slavery,” (Jacobus, 412) and therefore violates the Thirteenth Amendment. “The Supreme Court stated that in enforcing the Civil Rights Act of 1866, Congress is empowered under the Thirteenth

Ten years prior we had Brown v. The Board of Education, which a few of the same Justices serving on Katzenbach v. McClung were on, that stated that “separate educational facilities is inherently unequal”. Then, with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 we saw the outlawing of segregation and discrimination in public places. This was put to the test by two small southern businesses that claimed Congress had no right to interfere with their local establishments, but the Supreme Court did right by upholding the constitution, and it seemed to be a no brainer as seen by the unanimous decision by the court. It was tense time and shameful part of our history, but without decisions made by these men we might not be where we are today. Racism and discrimination still exist all over the globe to this day. We have come a long way though, and if it wasn’t for people continuing to do the right thing whether they are a majority or minority then we wouldn’t have the freedoms that we have today. The Supreme Court got it right with this decision, not just by upholding the Constitution, but for our Country and Humanity in

The Dred Scott Case had a huge impact on the United States as it is today. The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments have called it the worst Supreme Court decision ever rendered and was later overturned. The Dred Scott Decision was a key case regarding the issue of slavery; the case started as a slave seeking his rightful freedom and mushroomed into a whole lot more. 65

Brown V. Board of Education is commonly considered the most important case to date regarding education and civil rights. Education as we know it, would be completely different if The Supreme Court had not ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. I am confident that another case would have come along and changed it later had they not won this case. History would be completely different regarding the war on Civil Rights if things had gone differently. Until this case, many states implemented laws mandating separate schools for white and black students. This historical case made the previous laws established during the former Plessy V. Ferguson case unconstitutional.

Policy issues are brought before the Supreme Court and it is the Supreme Courts role to interpret the law in question. Therefore, the Supreme Court has a role as a policymaker and the policies they are in charge of making are some of the most vital policies for society. For instance, many States today and throughout history have created laws that violate people’s rights and liberties given to them by the Constitution. For example, in 1890 Louisiana created a law requiring “separate but equal” railroad accommodations for blacks and whites. Homer Plessy challenged this law and the Supreme Court upheld the Louisiana statute in Plessy v. Ferguson (p.30). Plessy v. Ferguson were part of the Jim Crow laws, which were not overturned until the Brown

The Supreme Court of the United States of America often makes decisions, which change this great nation in a great way. These changes can affect society in many different ways. In many instances there is dissonance over their decisions and the court itself is often split as to how the views are looked upon. The effect of the Courts decision generates discourse and on occasion, violence. This is what happened in the case of Miranda v. Arizona in 1966. This case changed the history of this country and left a tremendous impact, which many challenge, the ruling and still protest today.

There are three women on the Supreme Court, one of whom is Latina, and there is one black justice serving on the Supreme Court (Brown, 2016). This is a major issue. The United States, the “melting pot”, has an extreme lack of diversity in their court system. This is an issue that affects several aspects of society. Decisions made by judges will affect the lives of men, women, and their families. The decisions made by judges can also create law. Unlike political officials, the people do not always have the power to vote judges into their positions. Instead, the people hope that their peers with the power to affect the system choose a candidate that will fight for them. Often times, this does not happen.

Discrimination is, and always will, be a part of society. The color of a person’s skin is the biggest discriminating factor that society has ever known. Black people were discriminated in every aspect of their lives. Their children were taught that they were inferior to the white man. Blacks and whites were barely allowed to breath the same air. Some would even turn their nose up at the thought of it. This discriminating behavior was very popular in the south. Justice for black people in the legal system was unfair until the 1950s, when the Supreme Court gave blacks hope by striking down segregation and discrimination laws; however, desegregation would not come about until the 1960s.