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Supreme Court Case: Gregg V. Georgia 1976

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Gregg v. Georgia 1976 Constitutional Question: Is the death penalty constitutional, or is it a violation of his 8th and 14th amendment rights? Background Information: In 1976, a man named Gregg was tried and and found guilty for the murder of two people. After his trail he was sentenced to death. Gregg did not agree with his punishment. He believed that the death penalty was a violation of his 8th and 14th amendment right. The 8th amendment protects us from cruel and unusual punishment and Gregg believed this was cruel punishment. The Supreme Court had to decide if his crime deserved the death penalties or if the death penalty violated his rights. Opinion: The decision came out to be 7 to 2. The Supreme Court upheld the lower courts decision. …show more content…

Kuhlmeier 1987 Constitutional Question: Does a school have the right to censor a students newspaper article or is this a violation of the students First Amendment rights of free press? Background Information: Cathy Kuhlmeier was a high school student at Hazelwood High School. Her and her friends were writers in the school newspaper. The schools news paper was written, edited and published by the students. Before publishing it was sent to the principal to look over. The principal found two article that he thought were inappropriate and said couldn't be published. Kuhlmeier and her classmates were outraged and brought this case to Supreme Court. Opinion: The lower courts said denying the students from publishing the article goes against the first amendment, no matter how appropriate it is. After this case went the the Supreme Court the lower courts decision was overturned. The Supreme Court's decision came out to be 5 to 3 in favor of Hazelwood School District. The Supreme Court decided that because it was the schools newspaper the school have the right to regulate and sensor any of the articles put in their newspaper. Image: Texas v. Johnson …show more content…

The Supreme Court decided in favor of Johnson. The Supreme Court believed that Johnson's actions were expressive conduct and there was a purpose to the flag burning. The Supreme Court decided that because this was an expression it is protected under the First Amendment. Image: Oregon Employment Division v. Smith 1990 Constitutional Question: Can a person be denied unemployment benefits when fired because of using illegal drugs in religious ceremonies? Background Information: Smith and a colleague worked at a drug rehabilitation center. Both of these man were Native American. These man partake in a religious ceremony of a Native American Church. During this religious ceremony the two men ingested a hallucinogen. These men were then fired from the private drug rehabilitation organization. These two men filed for unemployment but were denied. Their work said they were fired for misconduct which made them eligible for unemployment benefits Opinion: The decision came out to be 6 to 3. The Supreme Court decided in favor of Oregon employment division. The Supreme Court believed that the use of illegal drugs even in religious ceremonies is illegal and wrong.

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Per 3 Goss Vs. Lopez Supreme Court Case On October 15, 1975 Nine students were suspended from Central High School from Columbus, Ohio. They had destroyed school property and disrupting students from learning and were suspended for 10 days. One of the students amoung them was Dwight Lopez.

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The issue in this case was whether school-sponsored nondenominational prayer in public schools violates the Establishment clause of the first amendment (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). This case dealt with a New York state law that had required public schools to open each day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a nondenominational prayer in which the students recognized their dependence upon God (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). This law had also allowed students to absent themselves from this activity if they found that it was objectionable. There was a parent that sued the school on behalf of their child. Their argument was that the law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as made applicable

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The United States Supreme Court reversed the order from the Arkansas Supreme Court, finding in favor of the magazine. The court felt that the government was discriminating against Arkansas Times based upon their content, which goes against the First Amendment. “It took longer than we thought but it was all worth it in the long run. The court did the right thing in the end and hopefully our case can help another newspaper or magazine that feels discriminated against,” Hanson told us after hearing the final

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The Supreme Court came back with a decision six months later with a 5-4 decision. This meant that 5 judges were for the death penalty and 4 were against. Justices Douglass, Brennan, Stewart, White and Marshal all concurred that executing Furman was wrong. Justices Burger, Blackmun, Powell, and Rehnquist all voted that the execution was the correct action to take against Furman. The court’s decision was that giving Furman the death penalty was cruel and unusual and in clear violation of the constitution.

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According to the Supreme Court, in 1993, Christopher Simmons went into Shirley Crook’s home with in mind to steal and harm her. Simmons was 17 years old at the time of this crime. According to the report, Simmons had spoken to his friends of the plan to kill the family, thinking he could get away with it because of his age. According to the report, Simmons was arrested the next day, he and his friends.

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Loving versus Virginia takes place in rural Central Point, Virginia in 1967. During this time period segregation and discrimination were still a hefty part of the social standards of society. The Supreme Court case involved the controversy of the young love birds named Richard Loving and Mildred, maiden name, Jeter being married. The two were high school hearts. The two did live in Virginia but went out of state to pursue getting legally married, which they did.

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Rule: The Court held 5-4 that no the First Amendment does not prevent educators from suppressing, at or across the street from a school-supervised event, student speech that is reasonably viewed as promoting

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On June 25, 1962, a Supreme Court case, Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421, was decided. The lawsuit was brought to the United States Supreme Court by parents (of students who attended schools in the Herricks School District) who complained that a nondenominational prayer instituted by the New York Board of Regents in their district was unconstitutional. The parents argued that the prayer, although optional, violated their First Amendment Rights. When the 6-1 (two justices did not vote) decision was made, it was ruled that voluntary prayer in public schools violates the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. One concurring opinion was given, and the single judge that did not vote the same as the rest provided

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Gregg has established that the capital offender has no eighth amendment right to live past the date set for his execution. Since, however, the offender is entitled to all possible dignity before, and perhaps after, his death, the offender's choices must be respected unless they contradict the purposes of his punishment. His own decisions about how his life is to be terminated should be honored unless it can be shown that those decisions are inconsistent with legitimate state interests. Treatment as a person also includes recognition of the right to

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"The main way our Constitution operates is to protect the basic liberties of the American people by keeping powers, such as the government, in check. Freedom of speech is renowned as an ultimate western ideal along with its counterpart, Freedom of the Press. In Lovell v. City of Griffin (1938), Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes defined the press as ""every sort of publication which affords a vehicle of information and opinion." " This right has been extended to newspapers, books, plays, movies, and video games. In Branzburg v. Hayes (1972), Freedom of the press was further defined as ""a fundamental personal right"", not confined to newspapers and periodicals.

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Using the Court’s jurisprudence, as evidence in the cases discussed in this essay, sets the boundaries of protected and unprotected speech. Freedom of speech rights does not always guarantee that the person exercising their First Amendment protections will act with prudence. Nevertheless, within the context of a university campus, administrators hold Constitutional rights to punish actions which are not consistent with the Court’s interpretation of freedom of speech protections. In conclusion, universities have rights under the First Amendment to punish violators of certain school policies.

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To win a case like this shows that the national government would have a very difficult time trying to impose censorship on the press. This gives the people the ability to print and publish a laundry list of articles that could inform and sway the American public to participate on issues about the national government. Another case that shows the power of the first amendment is Texas v. Johnson (1989). In this case it shows that even if something is found to be offensive or an act that not everybody agrees with does not be it can be prohibited by anyone, including the national government. Finally, the last Supreme Court case I will provide is Tinker v. Des Moines (1969).

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Des Moines case has been used in many school free speech court cases. The First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” This allows Americans to believe whatever they want and protects the during peaceful gatherings to speech about politics. Although schools have evolved a lot since when the Bill of writes was written; something that is similar is the students that go through the school. Children will always be children and some will push the envelope more than others.

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