Illinois Institute of Technology
Oyez Project: u.s. Supreme Court Cases: Employment Division v. Smith
A case of whether states can deny employment to people who have been found to use illegal drugs for religious purposes.
Other
Learning for Justice: Brown v. Board: An American Legacy
An article celebrating the 50th anniversary of the famous Brown v. Board Supreme Court decision. Features background information, a timeline of integration of schools, interviews, and links to many other activities and resources covering...
USA Today
Usa Today: Fla. Supreme Ct. Strikes Down School Vouchers
News Article from January 5, 2006 regarding the Florida's Supreme Court's decision that school vouchers were unconstitutional.
Social Studies Help Center
Social Studies Help Center: The Supreme Court as Defender of the Constitution
This site gives you examples of court cases demonstrating how the Supreme Court upholds the constituion. It also includes links to further information.
University of Groningen
American History: Documents: u.s. V. e.c. Knight and Co. 1895
View the complete text of the 1895 Supreme Court case of the United States v. E.C. Knight and Co. which concerned the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Dred Scott Decision
Read the terms of the Dred Scott decision which determined that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. See why this decision was so controversial and completely unacceptable to the northerners, thus driving an additional wedge...
![Digital History: The Controversial Dred Scott Decision [Pdf] Website](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Digital History: The Controversial Dred Scott Decision [Pdf] Website")
Digital History
Digital History: The Controversial Dred Scott Decision [Pdf]
The Dred Scott case was a test case on whether African-Americans, whether free or slave, had any rights. Find out what led up to this controverisal decision, and read the reasoning of the majority opinion as expressed by Chief Justice...
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: u.s. Supreme Court: Swann v. Board of Education (1971)
The decision for Swann vs. Board of Education of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, concerning the integration and desegration of public schools.
Other
Us Supreme Court to Reconsider the Right to Remain Silent!
This article sums up the anticipated views of Supreme Court members on the occasion of the arguments to reverse the Miranda decision.
Digital History
Digital History: War on the Judiciary
The Judiciary Act of 1801 was a final attempt by the Federalists to control the judicial system before the Democratic Republicans took over. Read about the repeal of the act, which resulted in a landmark Supreme Court decision, Marybury...
PBS
Enlightenment: Brown v. Board of Education
Site offers background, further study links, the issue before the court, the ruling and results, and discussion ideas for the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
Cornell University
Cornell University: Law School: Grutter v. Bollinger
U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Grutter v. Bollinger case involving affirmative action.
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: Article Iii: Judicial Power
Annotations to Article III on the characteristics and attributes of judicial power as related to specific Supreme Court decisions. The author distinguishes between judicial power and jurisdiction.
iCivics
I Civics: Elk v. Wilkins (1884)
This mini-lesson examines the Supreme Court's ruling that the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause did not apply to American Indians born on Native reservations. Students analyze a primary document and discover how the lack of citizenship...
iCivics
I Civics: Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association (1988)
This mini-lesson examines the Supreme Court case that pitted the interests of government economic projects against the religious rights of American Indians. Students learn about the religious protections of the First Amendment's Free...
Digital History
Digital History: The 14th Amendment and the Jim Crow Laws [Pdf]
Read about the background of the passage of the 14th Amendment which resulted in the famous case before the Supreme Court, Plessy v Ferguson, almost thirty years later. Suggested student exercises ask students to assess the issue of...
PBS
Pbs: Dred Scott's Fight for Freedom (1846 1857)
Provides information on Dred Scott and his fight for freedom, and the events leading up to the Supreme Court trial in 1857.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Plessy v. Ferguson
The decision of the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson kept black and white people separate in all public areas for many years. To find out what that meant, and to see some actual photographs, visit this page.
Cornell University
Cornell University: Law School: Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
Provides a syllabus for the landmark Supreme Court case of Gideon v. Wainwright which held that state courts are required to provide counsel in criminal cases for defendants unable to afford their own attorneys or lawyers.
Digital History
Digital History: Religion in Public Schools: Engle v. Vitale
Read the background of the Supreme Court case, Engle v Vitale, in which school prayer was banned. Find Justice Hugo Black's opinion confirming that decision.
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: Dred Scott: Dissenting Opinions and Reactions
Describes the fallout after the Dred Scott decision by the US Supreme Court, where two judges released their dissenting opinions, newspaper articles both reviled and supported the decision, and public debate raged.
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: Impact of Dred Scott: The Road to Civil War
After the Dred Scott decision by the US Supreme Court, the friction between the North and South over slavery escalated, and the North began to fear that they might not be able to prevent slavery from spreading into their states. The Dred...
Cornell University
Cornell University: Law School: Schenck v. United States (1919)
Features a syllabus of the landmark Supreme Court case of Schenck v. United States which decided that the defendant's right to criticize the draft was not protected by the First Amendment.
Illinois Institute of Technology
Oyez Project: New York Times v. United States (1971)
This U.S. Supreme Court case allowed the publication of the "Pentagon Papers." The OYEZ resource provides an abstract containing a concise summary, an audio file, a link to the full text of the decision and a record of how the justices...