Case Summary

Facts—This case involved the constitutionality of Connecticut’s birth control law. The statute provided that “any person who uses any drug, medical article or instrument for the purpose of preventing conception” was to be subject to fine or imprisonment or both. The statute further specified that a person who assisted another in committing any offense could …

Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479; 85 S. Ct. 1678; 14 L. Ed. 2d 510 (1965) Read More »

Facts—In November 1922, the state of Oregon passed a Compulsory Education Act requiring every child from the ages of eight to sixteen to attend public school. Parents or guardians who refused would be guilty of a misdemeanor. The plaintiff corporation conducted a group of private schools, according to the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church. …

Pierce v. Society of Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, 268 U.S. 510; 45 S. Ct. 571; 69 L. Ed. 1070 (1925) Read More »

Facts—In 1919 Nebraska passed a statute that prohibited the teaching of any subject in any other language than English. Languages could be taught only after the child had successfully passed the eighth grade. Meyer taught in a parochial school and used a German bible history as a text for reading. The use of the text …

Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390; 43 S. Ct. 625; 67 L. Ed. 1042 (1923) Read More »

Facts—Armando Schmerber had been convicted of driving an automobile while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. He had been arrested at a hospital while receiving treatment for injuries suffered in an accident involving the automobile he had apparently been driving. Under police direction a physician at the hospital took a blood sample from Schmerber over …

Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757; 86 S. Ct. 1826; 16 L. Ed. 2d 908 (1966) Read More »

Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335; 83 S. Ct. 792; 9 L. Ed. 2d 799 (1963) Facts—Clarence E. Gideon was charged in a Florida state court with having broken into and entered a poolroom with intent to commit a misdemeanor. Under Florida law such an offense is a noncapital felony. Gideon appeared in court without …

Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335; 83 S. Ct. 792; 9 L. Ed. 2d 799 (1963) Read More »

Chambers v. Florida, 309 U.S. 227; 60 S. Ct. 472; 84 L. Ed. 716 (1940) Facts—On May 13, 1933, Robert Darcy was robbed and murdered in Pompano, Florida. The petitioners in this case were among the suspects rounded up for investigation. They were later removed to Dade County Jail at Miami to protect them against …

Chambers v. Florida, 309 U.S. 227; 60 S. Ct. 472; 84 L. Ed. 716 (1940) Read More »

Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45; 53 S. Ct. 55; 77 L. Ed. 158 (1932) Facts—Petitioners, nine African American youths, were indicted for the rape of two white girls. A jury tried them six days after the day they were arrested, amidst an atmosphere of tense, hostile public sentiment. They were not represented by counsel …

Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45; 53 S. Ct. 55; 77 L. Ed. 158 (1932) Read More »

Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79; 106 S. Ct. 1712; 90 L. Ed. 2d 69 (1986) Facts—A Circuit Court in Jefferson County, Kentucky, refused to discharge a jury where the prosecutor had used peremptory challenges to strike African American jurors in the trial of a black defendant. The Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed. Question—Are peremptory challenges …

Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79; 106 S. Ct. 1712; 90 L. Ed. 2d 69 (1986) Read More »

Duren v. Missouri, 439 U.S. 357; 99 S. Ct. 664; 58 L. Ed. 2d 579 (1979) Facts—A Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, indicted Duren for first-degree murder and first-degree robbery. He contended that a provision of the Missouri law that granted women who requested it an automatic exemption from jury service denied him his …

Duren v. Missouri, 439 U.S. 357; 99 S. Ct. 664; 58 L. Ed. 2d 579 (1979) Read More »