Landmark Supreme Court Cases

by: James W. G.

Content Guide
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) slide 3 Talton v. Mayes (1896) slide 5 Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) slide 6 Mendez v. Westminster (1945) slide 8 Delgado v. Bastrop I.S.D. (1948) slide 9 Sweatt v. Painter (1950) slide 10 Hernandez v. Texas (1951) slide 11 Brown v. Board of Education (1954) slide 12 Edgewood I.S.D. v. Kirby (1968) slide 14 Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) slide 15 Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) slide 17 White v. Regester (1973) slide 18

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)

Who/Where?
-members of the Cherokee Nation (tribe) living in Georgia

What?
-Members of the Cherokee Nation, assuming they had the status of a foreign nation, sued the Georgia State Government for making laws they claimed were trying to destroy the Cherokee Nation and its way of life.

Why?
-Does the Cherokee Nation have the rights of a foreign country according to the U.S. Constitution?

Impact:
-The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Native American tribes were domestic dependent nations; and thus were subject to state and federal regulations. The Cherokee were relocated Trail of Tears. 4,000 died during travel.

(Cherokee Nation members forced to relocate by US Army during the Trail of Tears)

Talton v. Mayes (1896)

Who/Where?
-Bob Talton was convicted by a Cherokee Nation court for murdering a fellow Cherokee man and was sentenced to death in Georgia.

What?
-Talton argued that his Cherokee Nation trial violated the 5th Amendment because his jury only had 5 members.

Why?
-Do Native American tribal courts have to abide by the regulations of the US Constitution?

Impact:
- The U.S. Supreme Court decided that the individual rights protections in the US Constitution do not apply to Native American tribal government.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Who/Where?
-Homer Plessy, an octoroon (1/8th African-American) man in New Orleans, Louisiana.

What?
-The Separate Car Act law in Louisiana segregated AfricanAmericans in passenger railroad cars. Plessy was arrested for trying to ride in a whites-only passenger car.

Why?
-Does this law violate the 13th Amendment, and/or the equal protection clause in 14th Amendment?

Impact:
-The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Louisiana Law. This ruling was used to defend segregation by some in future cases.

Mendez v. Westminster (1945)

Who/Where?
-Gonzalo Mendez was not allowed to register at Westminster Main School, an all-white school in Orange County in California.

What?
-separate public schools for Mexican children and children of Latin descent (segregation)

Why?
-Does segregation of Mexican-American children deny them equal protection under the law?

Impact:
-The case never reached the Supreme Court; California did not have a state law requiring segregation of Latino children.

Delgado v. Bastrop I.S.D. (1948)

Who/Where?
-Mexican-American children in various school districts. Del Rio, TX.

What?
-separate public schools for Latin descent children (segregation)

Why?
-If there is no state law requiring segregation of Mexican-American children and Anglo children, does it violate the equal protection clause?

Impact:
-This case had little impact because children were still segregated based on language deficiency.

Sweatt v. Painter (1950)

Who/Where?
-Herman Sweatt an African-American man, at the University of Texas, in Austin.

What?
-Sweatt wanted acceptance into the universitys law school.

Why?
-Does the equal protection clause (in 14th Amendment) permit states to have separate law schools based on race?

Impact:
-Supreme Court ruled in favor of Herman Sweatt, and consequently he was admitted into the UT law school.

Hernandez v. Texas (1951)

Who/Where?
-Pete Hernandez commits murder in Jackson County, Texas.

What?
-The jury that found Hernandez guilty, and sentenced him to life in prison, was an all-Anglo (white) jury.

Why?
-Was Hernandez denied equal protection under the law because it was an all-Anglo jury, even though 14% of the community was of Mexican descent?

Impact:
-Justice Earl Warren overturned the conviction because the jury was not representative and excluded Mexicans from serving.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Who/Where?
-Linda Brown, a third grader, had to travel 21 blocks from her home to a segregated African American school in Topeka, Kansas.

What?
-separate public schools for African Americans (segregation)

Why?
-Does segregation of public schools deny children equal protection under the law?

Impact:
-Public schools were desegregated.

Edgewood I.S.D. v. Kirby (1968)

Who/Where?
-Demetrio Rodriguez and other parents with students in Edgewood I.S.D; San Antonio, Texas.

What?
-Texas public school finance/disparities between school districts (funding based on property taxes)

Why?
-Do the disparities between school districts violate the Texas Constitutions duty to provide an efficient public school system?

Impact:
-The Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of Edgewood I.S.D., stating that children living in poor districts had less access to equal education.

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Who/Where?
-Mary Beth Tinker, her brother John, and other students in Des Moines, Iowa

What?
-Students protested the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands to school. The students were suspended for violating a school dress code rule.

Why?
-Is wearing armbands to school as part of a protest considered a freedom of speech protected under the 1st Amendment?

Impact:
-The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the students and their 1st Amendment rights.

(Mary Beth Tinker and John Tinker)

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Who/Where?
-Jonas Yoder, Wallace Miller and Adin Yutzy (Amish children) in Green County, Wisconsin

What?
-Three Amish students were charged with violating Wisconsin state law by not attending school. (Their parents made them drop-out after 8th grade.)

Why?
-Can a state law require children to attend school, even if it goes against their religious beliefs (1st Amendment)?

Impact:
-The US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Amish children; claiming the state law violated the Free Exercise (of religion) Clause in the 1st Amendment.

White v. Regester (1973)

Who/Where?
-Mark White, the Secretary of the State of Texas (and later Texas Governor) dealt with multiple lawsuits filed against the Texas Legislature.

What?
-Reapportionment of voting districts done by the state legislature every ten years based on the US. Census were not equal in population.

Why?
-Did the Texas Legislature violate the U.S. Constitution and the 4th Amendment by having some districts with more people?

Impact:
-The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of White by stating that district reapportionment for the state (Texas) was not subject to the same standards as federal districts.