Michael G. Trachtman - The Supremes’ Greatest Hits, Revised & Updated Edition: The 37 Supreme Court Cases That Most Directly Affect Your Life

REVISED & UPDATED EDITION

THE 37 SUPREME COURT CASES
THAT MOST DIRECTLY AFFECT YOUR LIFE

Michael G. Trachtman

New York / London
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Frontispiece: U.S. Supreme Court Building, ca. 1943.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Trachtman, Michael G.
The Supremes greatest hits : the 37 Supreme Court cases that most directly
affect your life / Michael G. Trachtman.Rev. & updated ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-4027-6826-2 (hc-trade cloth : alk. paper) 1. United States. Supreme Court.
2. Judicial reviewUnited StatesCases. 3. Constitutional lawUnited StatesCases.
4. LawUnited StatesPopular works. I. Title.
KF8742.T73 2009

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016

Copyright 2009 Michael G. Trachtman
First edition published in 2007 by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

For picture credits please see page 243

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CHAPTER 1
HOW THE SUPREME COURT BECAME SUPREME

Chief Justice Marshall 1803

Did the Supreme Court Trigger the Civil War? 1857

CHAPTER 2
ONE NATION UNDER GOD? MATTERS OF CHURCH AND STATE

The School Prayer Case: Religion in the Public Schools 1962

The Scopes Monkey Trial Revisited: The Teaching of
Evolution, Creationism, and Intelligent Design in
Public Schools 1968

The Ten Commandments Cases: Religion in the
Public Square 2005

CHAPTER 3
INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY: THE RIGHTS OF THE ACCUSED

The Right to Be Represented by Counsel when Charged
with a Crime 1963

You Have the Right to Remain Silent...: The Privilege Against Self-Incrimination 1966

CHAPTER 4
THE MELTING POT: RACE, DISCRIMINATION, AND DIVERSITY

Separate Is Not Equal: The End of Legalized
Segregation 1954

Can One Race Be Favored over Another Race in the
Name of Diversity? 2003

The Right of Expressive AssociationFree Speech
or Legalized Discrimination? 2000

CHAPTER 5
PLAYING POLITICS

Money Talks: Campaign Finance Reform and the First
Amendment 1976

Can an Election Be Bought? 2008

Did the Supreme Court Play Politics in the
2000 Election? 2000

CHAPTER 6
THE RIGHT TO DO WHAT YOU WANT

The Unwritten Right of Privacy 1965

Does the Right of Privacy Include the Right to
an Abortion? 1973

The Right to Die 1997

The Right to Bear Arms 2008

CHAPTER 7
BIG GOVERNMENT IN YOUR BUSINESS AND YOUR BACKYARD

What Gives Congress the Right to Regulate
Private Businesses? 1937

What Are the Limits on Congresss Right to Regulate
Business, and Beyond? 1964

Expanding the Right of Employees to Sue
Their Employers 1998

Eliminating Monopolies and Price-Fixing: John D.
Rockefeller and the Birth of the Antitrust Laws 1911

Can the Government Take Your House to Promote
a Private Business? 2005

You Can Sue City Hall 1961

CHAPTER 8
LIMITING THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY

The Steel Seizure Case: How Far Can the President Go
in the Name of National Security? 1952

Nixon, Executive Privilege, and the Watergate Scandal 1974

Who Writes the Rules of War? 2008

CHAPTER 9
HOW FREE IS FREE SPEECH?

The Right to Be Repugnant 1969

Obscenity and the First Amendment 1973

The Flag Burning Case: Can Conduct Be
Free Speech? 1989

The Freedom to Criticize Public Officials and
Public Figures 1964

The Pentagon Papers Case: Balancing National
Security Against the Peoples Right to Know 1971

CHAPTER 10
OLD LAWS AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES

.

Music, Movies, and the Internet 2005

How Much Privacy Are You Entitled to in a
High-Tech World? 2001

The Internet, Free Speech, and the First
Amendment 2003

CHAPTER 11
PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THE SUPREME COURT: WHAT DOES
THE FUTURE HOLD?

It was John Boswells idea that this book should be written, and that I should be the one to write it. I am incredibly grateful for his creativity and generosity, and for the help he has freely given me in my effort to fulfill his vision.

Lawyers sometimes forget how to write and think like non-lawyers. My wife, Jennie, provided invaluable simultaneous translation services as I struggled to overcome those disabilities. Many apologies to her and my son, Ben, for the attention paid to this manuscript at their expense, and many more thanks for their understanding and encouragement.

H igh school civics students are taught that our system of government is comprised of three branches: the legislature makes the laws; the executive enforces the laws; and the courts interpret the laws. As for the Supreme Court, they know that it is the highest court in the landthe final word on legal disputes.

So far as it goes, all of this is true. But to describe the Supreme Court in this way is to describe champagne as grape juice, or the Grand Canyon as a river valleyaccurate to a point, but so shallow and incomplete as to be grotesquely misleading. Over 175 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville, the celebrated French political observer, studied the Supreme Court and concluded, A more imposing judicial power was never constituted by any people. The same holds true today.

Like the highest courts of other democracies, the Supreme Court has the authority to decide, once and for all, what important laws really mean when applied to the real-life situations that arise after the laws are enacted. Does the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protect women against sexual harassment? Does the Americans with Disabilities Act cover people with certain heart conditions? Various lower courts disagreed. The Supreme Court interpreted the wording and intent of the statutes and made a ruling. End of controversy.