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Brown V Board of Education
In the 1950s, Linda Brown had to take a dangerous walking route to her black school because the only school that was closer to her was for white students only. Her father, along with dozens of other parents believed this was a breach of the 14th Amendment and called for an end to segregation policies. The Supreme Court unanimously agreed that separated educational facilities were unequal and called for the desegregation of the school system, a ruling that knocked out "separate but equal." -
Heart of Atlanta Motel V US
A motel in Georgia refused to provide accommodation for black people even though the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned the practice. Shortly after the act was made, the motel argued that Congress was overstepping its bounds and asked for the act to not be enforced. The Supreme Court unanimously held that the act was not exceeding Congress's power and that discrimination by businesses had a big impact on black people traveling. This ruling strengthened the act and led by example for other cases. -
Loving V. Virginia
In 1958, a black woman named Mildred Jeter and a white man named Richard Loving got married in D.C. but when they went back to their home state of Virginia, they were charged for breaking a law against interracial marriage and sentenced one year in prison. The case was then brought to the SCOTUS and in a unanimous decision, it was ruled that this law was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. It was then decided that anyone of any race could get married together. -
Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corp.
Ida Phillips had seven children and applied for a job at a missile plant that had a hiring policy that kept mothers with children in preschool from being hired because they were thought to be unreliable. The Supreme Court had to decide whether or not this violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibited discrimination in the workplace. In a unanimous vote, the court ruled that the rule was discriminatory because it was based on the sex of the applicant even though motherhood was the issue. -
Roe V. Wade
A Texas law stated that it was illegal to have an abortion unless it was absolutely necessary to save a woman's life, and only by doctor's orders. An anonymous plaintiff referred to as Jane Roe filed a lawsuit saying that the law was unconstitutional and the Supreme Court agreed with her in that overly restrictive laws regarding abortion were in violation of privacy rights in the 14th Amendment. This case made access to an abortion a constitutional right, though many try to fight it still. -
Michael H. V Gerald D.
A man had an affair with a woman which resulted in the conception of a child. The man discovered that the woman had his child so he wanted visitation rights, but since the woman was married, a California law stated that the man had only two years of the child's life to challenge for visitation rights and he was too late, so he sued. The court then ruled that the biological father does not have parental rights if the presumed father had acted in a responsible way for the child. -
Cruzan v. Director of the Missouri Department of Health
In 1983, 25-year-old Nancy Cruzan was in a car accident. She was declared brain dead with no chance of recovery and was on life support for five years when the parents told the doctors that she wouldn't want to "live her life" like this and asked for her to be disconnected but the hospital refused without a court order. In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court declared that Nancy had the right-to-die but that the state had the right to stop the family. -
Lawrence V Texas
After police walked onto a private residence after a false weapons disturbance was reported and instead found two men having consensual sex they arrested the men and were convicted under Texas law which forbade people of the same sex from having sex with each other. In a 6-3 ruling in the Supreme Court, it was decided that this violated their right to liberty which allowed them to engage in certain activities without government involvement. This was seen as a huge victory in the LGBT community. -
Georgia v. Randolph
After a fight at home between a separated couple, the woman in the relationship called the police on her husband and gave them permission to enter the home. The husband did not give the police permission to enter, but because they had the wife's permission, they entered anyway. Cocaine was then found and the husband was charged with possession. This case was brought to court in order to figure out if only one person had to give consent to enter the home and in a 5-3 SC ruling, they could not. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
James Obergefell and John Arthur were a couple from Ohio who got married in Maryland. Arthur was on his death-bed and wanted Obergefell on his death certificate, but that was not legal in Ohio at the time, so he and three other couples from different states sued their states for being in violation of their 14th Amendment right and the case went to the Supreme Court. In a 5-4 vote, it was decided that the 14th Amendment guarantees the right to marriage, including same-sex marriage.
