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... ry of what they should have been, and such actions left the colonists shocked at the possible consequences. 2. In Taylor v. Louisiana 1975, the Court examined a case regarding a Louisiana state law stating that women would be excluded from jury selection unless they specifically asked. The basis for this law was that selecting women on juries would upset their family life.
This law was struck down by the Court on the grounds that to have a jury pool that accurately represented the community, women must be included. 3. Controversial Issues follow: Speedy trial versus following proper legal procedure Barker v. Wingo 1972 Pretrial publicity Sheppard v. Maxwell 1966 Fair and impartial jury Parker v.
Gladden 1966 Confronting witnesses against him versus the defendant's court room behavior Pointer v. Texas 1965 Bill of Rights, Amendment VII. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of common law 1. Their treatment at the hands of the British authorities led the founding fathers to include references to proper trial by a just and impartial jury in 3 different amendments. British authorities were evidently heavy handed in their procedures for dealing with civil disputes, playing favorites amongst the parties involved, to ignoring the findings of previous juries. 2. Colgrove v.
Button 1973 was a case looked at by the Court regarding the proper size of a civil-case jury. The Supreme Court came to the conclusion that a 6 person jury is more efficient than a 12 person jury, and the smaller size of the jury had no effect on the actual verdict of the jury. This affected the standards of civil court versus criminal court, although a civil jury must still come to a unanimous decision the same as a criminal jury. 3. This amendment has no controversial issues! Bill of Rights, Amendment VIII.
Excessive Bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 1. In 1791, punishments measured out by courts of the time for offenses could be grisly and quite draconian. Our text quotes such punishments as 'drawing and quartering', which was judged to be cruel and unusual for the time, as well as death by hanging, or cutting off a defendants ears, which were not. In pursuing a more civil society, The founding fathers sought to create limits on the spectacle that punishment could entail. They also meant to allow defendants to bail themselves out in order to find the means which to defend themselves with in court (such as finding an attorney willing to represent them) 2. Nowadays, our interpretation of 'cruel and unusual punishment' has one central issue at heart: the death penalty.
Gregg v. Georgia 1976 is a case regarding the death penalty and its legality. Justice William Brennan puts forth the point 'even the vilest criminal remains a human being possessed of common human dignity... the law has progressed to the point where we should declare that the punishment of death, like punishments on the rack, the screw, and the wheel, is no longer morally tolerable in our civilized society.
In favor of the death penalty, Justice Potter Stewart observed that retribution was one benefit from an active death penalty, not to mention providing a deterrence from homicides being committed in the first place. Collectively, the Court stated that 'the punishment of death does not invariably violate the Constitution. ' 3. Controversial Issues follow: Excessive bail versus a defendants rights United States v. Salerno 1987 Excessive use of the death penalty, with the issue of the defendant's race in mind Furman v. Georgia 1972 The legality of the death penalty Gregg v.
Georgia 1976 Use of the death penalty in crimes other than murder Edmund v. Florida 1982 Corporal punishment in schools Ingraham v. Wright 1977 Bill of Rights, Amendment IX. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people 1. In the society of the day, political authorities generally acted on the premise that if a right was not specifically documented, then it did not exist. Unhappy with this state of affairs, the founding fathers wanted to be sure that it would be the opposite way around, in that people would be assumed to have rights unless specifically stated otherwise. 2.
Enumerated rights, as in rights which are not specifically listed in the Bill of Rights, are covered here in the 9 th Amendment. The enumerated right to privacy is the subject of the Court's decisions regarding Griswold v. Connecticut 1965. This case was in reference to an 1979 Connecticut state law prohibiting the use of contraceptives. The Court agreed that an enumerated right, the right to marital privacy, is covered under the 9 th Amendment. 3.
Controversial Issues follow: Laws regarding the use of contraceptives versus marital privacy Griswold v. Connecticut 1965 Laws prohibiting sodomy versus sexual privacy Lawrence v. Texas 2003 overturning a similar case Bowers v. Hardwick 1986 Bill of Rights, Amendment X. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. 1. One of the reasons behind the Revolution was the lack of regard for the power of local government by the British authorities governing from Britain.
When local government refused to uphold the letter of the law as dictated by Parliament and George III, British troops were sent in to enforce the law. Our forefathers recognized the power that federal government held over local governments due to the military power wielded by federal government. The 10 th Amendment is their way of striking the appropriate balance of power between federal and state governments. 2. Civil Rights were at the heart of the case Brown v. Board of Education 1954. The Court ruled that certain states practices of racially segregating public schools was unconstitutional under the 14 th Amendment.
The States countered with the protection of States Rights under the 10 th Amendment. This issue of the power struggle over Civil Rights between federal and state governments even included a potential military showdown, with National Guard units preventing black students from enrolling in a high school, and units from the 101 st Airborne protecting the rights of the said students by decree of the Court. 3. Controversial Issues follow: The line between States power and federal government power is drawn in United States v. Darby Lumber Company 1941 Civil Rights versus States rights Brown v. Board of Education 1954 The Brady Bill is referred to again, as in whether the Federal government can require state law enforcement agencies to follow its decrees.
Print v. United States 1997
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