Supreme Court Cases
BILL OF RIGHTS PROJECT
NAME_________________________________
ANSWER ON A SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER
1.
Edwards v. South Carolina (1963)
a. Brief Summary –
b. What amendment or group of amendments is at stake in this case?
c. In your opinion, were their rights violated or not? Explain.
d. Were you correct? Yes or No.
2. Engblom v Carey (1981)
a. Brief Summary –
b. What amendment or group of amendments is at stake in this case?
c. In your opinion, were their rights violated or not? Explain.
d. Were you correct? Yes or No.
3. Terry v. Ohio (1939)
a. Brief Summary –
b. What amendment or group of amendments is at stake in this case?
c. In your opinion, were their rights violated or not? Explain.
d. Were you correct? Yes or No.
4. Brown v Mississippi (1936)
a. Brief Summary –
b. What amendment or group of amendments is at stake in this case?
c. In your opinion, were their rights violated or not? Explain.
d. Were you correct? Yes or No.
5. Wilkerson v Utah (1878)
a. Brief Summary –
b. What amendment or group of amendments is at stake in this case?
c. In your opinion, were their rights violated or not? Explain.
d. Were you correct? Yes or No.
Supreme Court Cases
6.
Engel v Vitale (1962)
a. Brief Summary –
b. What amendment or group of amendments is at stake in this case?
c. In your opinion, were their rights violated or not? Explain.
d. Were you correct? Yes or No.
7. Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
a. Brief Summary –
b. What amendment or group of amendments is at stake in this case?
c. In your opinion, were their rights violated or not? Explain.
d. Were you correct? Yes or No.
Supreme Court Cases
1. EDWARDS V.SOUTH CAROLINA
On March 3, 1961, approximately 190 black high school and college students met at the Zion
Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina. From there they went, in groups of about 15, to the
South Carolina State House. Their purpose was to protest racial segregation and discrimination
in South Carolina. When they arrived at the State House, they walked peacefully through the
grounds for about 45 minutes. Some carried placards protesting segregation. About 200 to 300
onlookers gathered to watch the protesters. The students were told that they would be
arrested if they did not disperse within 15 minutes. They then proceeded to sing songs, clap
their hands, and stamp their feet. After 15 minutes all of the protesters were arrested. They
were subsequently prosecuted and found guilty of violating a statute which made it unlawful to
breach the peace. The students claimed that their arrest was a violation of their rights.
Which Amendment, or Amendments, are in question?
What do you think was the court’s decision?
2. ENGBLOM V. CAREY
In April 1979 New York State correctional officers across the state went on strike. Among the
strikers were some officers who both lived and worked at the Mid-Orange Correctional Facility.
For some of the period of the strike, these officers were barred from their residence at the
correctional facility because they were on strike. Members of the National Guard who had been
called into active duty in an attempt to put a stop to the strike were housed in the rooms of the
correctional officers. After the strike was over, some of the correctional officers who had been
forced out of their residences claimed that their rights were violated and sought money
damages for the violation of these rights
Which Amendment, or Amendments, are in question?
What do you think was the court’s decision?
3. ENGLE V. VITALE
Acting pursuant to a state law, a school board in New Hyde Park, New York, directed that the
following prayer be said aloud by each class at the beginning of ever day:
“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us,
our parents, our teachers and our Country.”
It is important to note that no one who objected to reciting the prayer was forced to do so.
Parents of some of the parents at the school claimed that their rights were violated.
Which Amendment, or Amendments, are in question?
What do you think was the court’s decision?
Supreme Court Cases
4. TERRY V. OHIO
In Cleveland, Ohio, a police detective in plain clothes was assigned to patrol an area looking for shoplifters
and pickpockets. One day he saw two men on a corner talking to each other. One man left the other and
walked past several stores, looking carefully in one store window. The second man did the same thing.
Each man repeated this walk five of six times. A third man joined the two and spoke with them briefly.
The detective feared that the men wanted to rob a store and that they might have guns. Since they might
have guns, the detective also had reason to fear for his own safety. He approached the men and asked
their names. They mumbled something. The detective spun one man around and patted the outside of
his clothing. He felt a gun in the left inside breast pocket of the overcoat. He removed the overcoat and
found the gun. The detective frisked the second man and found a gun in the outer pocket of his overcoat.
No weapon was found on the third man. All three men were taken to a police station. The two men who
had the guns were arrested and charged with carrying concealed weapons without a license, a violation of
a state law. One of the men claimed that his rights were violated and he should not have been arrested.
Which Amendment(s) is/are in question?
What do you think was the court’s decision?
5. BROWN VS. MISSISSIPPI
Three black persons were arrested for the murder of a white person which occurred on March 30, 1934.
They confessed to the murder and were found guilty of violating a state law prohibiting murder and were
sentenced to death. Without their confessions, there would have been insufficient evidence to convict
the defendants, and the judge would have been required to dismiss the case.
On the day of the murder, one of the defendants, a man named Ellington, had been taken from his home
by a deputy sheriff and others to the home of the murder victim. There he was accused of the crime by a
number of white men. He denied that he had committed the crime. He was hung temporarily to a tree,
let down, and hung again when he refused to confess. He was then tied to a tee and whipped. He did not
confess and was released. Almost two days later, Ellington was arrested. He was shipped again, by the
deputy sheriff, and told that he would be whipped until he confessed. He then agreed to confess.
Ellington named two other persons in connection with the murder, Ed Brown and Henry Shields. Brown
and Shields were also arrested, taken to jail, stripped, laid over chairs, and beaten until they confessed.
Their confessions were then introduced against them at trial. The deputy sheriff admitted to the
beatings. Brown claimed that his rights were violated.
Which Amendment(s) is/are in question?
What do you think was the court’s decision?
7. WISCONSIN V. YODER
Several parents in Wisconsin who belonged to the nonconformist, conservative Amish religion were
prosecuted and convicted for violating a state statute. The statute, known as the school compulsoryattendance law, required that children attend school until the age of 16. After the children left the eighth
grade, their parents did not want them to attend the local high school and be a part of the general society
because their society centered around a life of farming and prohibited many of the world’s customs. The
parents claimed that the school compulsory-attendance law was a violation of their rights.
Which Amendment(s) is/are in question?
What do you think was the court’s decision?
Supreme Court Cases
8. MIRANDA V. ARIZONA
A kidnapping and sexual assault occurred in Phoenix, Arizona, in March 1963. On March 13 Ernesto
Miranda, 23, was arrested in his home, taken to the police station, identified by the victim, and taken into
an interrogation room. Miranda was not told of his rights to counsel prior to questioning. Two hours later,
investigators emerged from the room with a written confession signed by Miranda. It included a typed
disclaimer, also signed by Miranda, stating that he had “full knowledge of my legal rights, understanding
any statement I make may be used against me,” and that he had knowingly waived those rights.Two
weeks later at a preliminary hearing, Miranda again was denied counsel. At his trial he did have a lawyer,
whose objections to the use of Miranda's signed confession as evidence were overruled. Miranda was
convicted of kidnapping and rape, and received a 20-year sentence.
Which Amendment(s) is/are in question?
What do you think was the court’s decision?
9. NEW YORK TIMES V. UNITED STATES
In what became known as the "Pentagon Papers Case," the Nixon Administration attempted to prevent
the New York Times and Washington Post from publishing materials belonging to a classified Defense
Department study regarding the history of United States activities in Vietnam. The President argued that
prior restraint was necessary to protect national security. This case was decided together with United
States v. Washington Post Co.
Which Amendment(s) is/are in question?
What do you think was the court’s decision?
10. NEW JERSEY V. TLO
T.L.O. was a fourteen-year-old; she was accused of smoking in the girls' bathroom of her high school. A
principal at the school questioned her and searched her purse, yielding a bag of marijuana and other drug
paraphernalia.
Which Amendment(s) is/are in question?
What do you think was the court’s decision?