The Law Dictionary for Everyone
Following is the case brief for Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927) Case Summary of Buck v. Bell: A Virginia statute allowed for the forced sterilization of “feeble minded” people to protect the “health of the state.” Carrie Buck, who was mentally disabled, as was her mother and daughter, was ordered to be sterilized pursuant to the statute. Buck […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Glossip v. Gross, 135 S. Ct. 2726 (2015) Case Summary of Glossip v. Gross: Following a botched execution by lethal injection and an investigation into the incident, Oklahoma approved a lethal injection method that incorporated the same drug used in the botched execution. Death row inmates sued to enjoin the use of one drug […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for McKeiver v. Pennsylvania, 403 U.S. 528 (1971) Case Summary of McKeiver v. Pennsylvania: A number of juveniles in Pennsylvania and North Carolina were adjudicated delinquent on charges that would be criminal offenses if committed by an adult. The courts in all of the cases denied the juveniles a jury trial. The Supreme Courts of […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Clinton v. New York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998) Case Summary of Clinton v. New York: President Clinton exercised his new powers under the Line Item Veto Act. Those impacted by the exercise of the line-item veto sued in federal court. The federal district court held that the Line Item Veto Act violated the Presentment […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Katzenbach v. McClung, 379 U.S. 294 (1964) Case Summary of Katzenbach v. McClung: Ollie’s Barbecue in Alabama refused to serve African-Americans in the dining area, and only allowed African-Americans to get food through take-out service. The owner of Ollie’s sued to prevent enforcement of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on his restaurant, claiming […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Maryland v. King, 569 U.S. 435 (2013) Case Summary of Maryland v. King: Maryland collects DNA, by swabbing a person’s cheek, from any person arrested for a serious crime. Respondent King was arrested for assault. His DNA was taken. As a result, he was implicated in a rape case from years earlier. He was […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Illinois v. Wardlow, 528 U.S. 119 (2000) Case Summary of Illinois v. Wardlow: Respondent, walking in a high-crime area, fled upon seeing a caravan of Chicago police vehicles. Two Chicago police officers caught up with respondent and conducted a Terry stop and frisk. They discovered that Wardlow had a gun. The trial court denied […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (1919) Case Summary of Abrams v. United States: A small group of Russian immigrants produced leaflets in response to U.S. troops being on Russian soil for operations during WWI. The leaflets called for a strike at ammunition plants so that the U.S. would not have weapons to […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Bradwell v. The State, 83 U.S. 130 (1872) Case Summary of Bradwell v. The State: Myra Bradwell applied for a law license in the State of Illinois. Her application was denied up through the Supreme Court of Illinois. On appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Court affirmed the denial of her license. The […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Hirabayashi v. United States, 320 U.S. 81 (1943) Case Summary of Hirabayashi v. United States: Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt ordered that curfews and relocation be ordered for Japanese-Americans on the West Coast. The orders, which were quickly enacted into law, were meant to protect the country from sabotage and espionage […]
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