Alabama V. Martin Luther King

As technology advances, the world is forced to adapt as an increasingly quick pace. Specifically, our justice system must consider the constitutionality of surveillance and other information gathering techniques and how they coincide with current interpretations of the Fourth Amendment which protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures. The Supreme Court addressed this issue in the 2013 case of Maryland v King explicitly related to the legality of DNA collection of individuals early in the booking process for serious crimes. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that pre-conviction DNA collection of those arrested for serious crimes is constitutional and does not violate the Fourth Amendment; a decision that will

For more than a year, the African-American community in Montgomery successfully boycotted the city bus company, Montgomery City Bus Lines, which resulted in the loss of much needed revenue to support the city expenses. The Bus Boycott was the impetus for many whites to act violently towards African Americans in Montgomery. Being an avid member of the NAACP, King became much involved in the boycott. King's non-violent approach towards the boycott obviously drew a lot of attention. King's home in Montgomery was firebombed by openly racist members of the Ku Klux Klan [KKK] (Norrell 1). Seeing that the bus

The civil rights movement can be called one of the most important movements in the history of the country. Without it who knows where America would be as a country in today’s time. Fortunately it was not a problem America had to solve all by its self. With the help of two of the most influential people in history, America became the country of the free where everyone is equal, no matter what religion, gender or ethnicity. Those two men were Martin Luther King Jr. and Elijah Muhammad. These men have accomplished so much but some can argue that one did things a better way than the other. Most of the time people are more for the non-violent Martin Luther King Jr. but some say that without a little force, nothing can be accomplished. This was the

When it comes to court cases, every case that is heard in court is heard for one reason or another.

Constitution. The 14th amendment guarantees all citizens, regardless of race, equal rights and equal protection under state and federal laws. The city appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld the lower court's decision on December 20, 1956. Montgomery's buses were integrated on December 21, 1956, and the boycott ended. It had lasted 381 days. Even though in the eyes of the law the buses were integrated and the issue had been dealt with, African Americans still had to go through adversity and resistance from white people that usually resulted in violence. While the busses were integrated the people of Montgomery, Alabama figured out a new way to discriminate against African Americans, they retaliated with integrated bus stops and even violence. Occasionally snipers were paid to fire into public busses at African Americans in order to kill them and send a message. In January 1957, four black churches and the homes of prominent black leaders were bombed; a bomb at King's house was defuseq. On January 30, 1957, the Montgomery police arrested seven bombers; all were members of the Ku Klux Klan, a white

The United States’ attention was captivated on the Supreme Court Case of Powell vs Alabama during the 1930s. During the time period, this case revealed the brutal treatment towards African Americans more than any other event. The case began on March 25, 1931, when a group of young white and African American youths were traveling on a train to find a job. A physical encounter broke out between them and the white youths were thrown out of the train. Then they reported the incident to a stationmaster, who stopped the train. The police arrived to gather the nine African Americans and brought them to jail. Nine young African Americans were recognized as the “Scottsboro boys”. They were accused of rape of two white women on that train. The white jury convicted eight of them, all except one, the youngest at 12-years-old, and were sentenced to death. These youths were falsely charged with raping two white women in Alabama. Although there was no evidence that linked the African Americans to the white women, they were still charged with sexual assault. The two women -- fearing prosecution for their sexual relationship with the white men agreed to testify against the black youths. The Supreme Court Case of Powell vs Alabama is crucial in both Civil Rights history and in the evolution of the Constitution.

Does the Alabama statute 16-1-20.1, allowing a period of silence for meditation or voluntary prayer violate the First Amendment Establishment Clause that is applied to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment?

On the night of October 3rd, 1974 at approximately 10:45 p.m. Edward Garner was shot by Officer Hymon in an attempt to stop him from escaping a crime scene. Garner died on the operating table due to the gunshot wound on the back of his head. His crime was burglary and he was found with a mere ten dollars and a purse. The case was argued on October 30th, 1984 and a decision was made on March 27th, 1985. The father of Edward Garner believed his son’s constitutional rights were violated by the defendants Officer Hymon, the Police Department, and the Mayor of the city of Memphis. With a 6-3 decision, the Justices’ decided that Officer Hymon was acting justly under the fourth amendment that states that deadly force is constitutional as long as it is “reasonable”. I believe Officer Hymon was acting in good faith and simply fulfilling his duty to protect the public and stop criminals from escaping punishment.

When Dred Scott v. Sandford was decided in 1857, it made an enormous impact on the United States. It riled up both pro- and anti-slavery Americans. It angered many Americans in an extreme example of judicial activism. Some say it made the Civil War inevitable. By the time the dust had settled and the 13th and 14th Amendments reversed the Court’s decision, Dred Scott could be considered one of the worst Supreme Court decisions of all time. And yet, although the case was egregiously wrong, it still can be considered a “great case”.

The landmark Supreme Court cases of Dred Scott v. Sandford, Plessy v. Ferguson, and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas have had a tremendous effect on the struggle for equal rights in America. These marker cases have set the precedent for cases dealing with the issue of civil equality for the last 150 years.

Dred Scott was a slave who had lived with his master in Missouri. He lived in Illinois, a free state, and the Wisconsin Territory for five years. He went to court for his freedom on the basis of his long residence on free soil. Two state courts made two opposing decisions, so Scott went to the Supreme Court in 1857. The Supreme Court ruled that since a slave was private property, he could be taken into any territory and legally held there. The judge appointed to Scott's case, Justice Roger Brooke Taney, decided that Scott couldn't bring a case to court because he wasn't a US citizen, the law declared slaves as property and owners could move their property anywhere, the Missouri Compromise was unlawful, and Congress didn't have enough power to decide where slavery could be permitted. This decision meant that all territories were able to have slavery and northern lawmakers wouldn't be able to keep it out of the territories.

Heart of Atlanta v. United States (1964) - Any business that was participating in interstate commerce would be required to follow all rules of the federal civil rights legislation. In this case, a motel that wanted to continue segregation was denied because they did business with people from other states. This important case represented an immediate challenge to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the landmark piece of civil rights legislation which represented the first comprehensive act by Congress on civil rights and race relations since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. For much of the 100 years preceding 1964, race relations in the United States had been dominated by segregation, a system of racial separation

Facts: In Lexington, Kentucky, police officers followed a suspected drug dealer to an apartment building where he went. When they arrived outside of the door to the apartment where the suspect was they reportedly could smell marajuana. The police then knocked and shouted they they were there and in return they could hear what sounded like people destroying the evidence and running around. The police then knocked down the door and saw the respondent as well as drugs laying out without having to look anywhere. later the police found more drugs and paraphernalia doing a more in-depth search. “The Circuit Court denied respondent’s motion to suppress the evidence, holding that exigent

From past to present there has been many impacts of the people. All of the people are trying to teach and let other people know rights and wrongs of the world. In the movie Gandhi made a big point of altruism to the people. Gandhi would put everyone and everything in concern before himself in all costs/powers. There have been people that have learned and studied Gandhi and used his teachings to impacted the world too. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the people that studied Gandhi and how he impacted the world because he wanted to do the same. Gandi compared to Martin Luther King Jr. was similar than most think because both gave big speeches, put themselves before others, took in the outsiders consideration, and both were assassinated because

From the time we are children and throughout the duration of our lives, we are told to abide by certain sets of rules. In most situations this is a perfectly acceptable expectation; speed limits, remaining quiet in libraries, and waiting until the age of twenty-one to drink are all reasonable things to ask of people. After all, these rules and laws are put in place to ensure a peaceful and safe society. However, when these rules begin to infringe upon the rights of certain groups, some citizens turn to civil disobedience as a form of protest. While some may argue that civil disobedience is nothing more than a violation of the law, it has also proven to have a positive impact on society, in more ways than one. Used by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin