The Law Dictionary for Everyone
Following is the case brief for Fletcher v. Peck, 10 U.S. (6 Cranch) 87 (1810) Case Summary of Fletcher v. Peck: The Georgia state legislature conveyed land to four companies in 1795. A year later, a newly elected legislature declared that the land conveyance was invalid. Peck, who acquired part of the conveyed land before the conveyance was declared invalid, […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Hernandez v. Texas, 347 U.S. 475 (1954) Case Summary of Hernandez v. Texas: Hernandez was indicted for murder by a grand jury, and he was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison. He moved to quash his indictment and trial jury panel, alleging that the county that charged him systematically excluded Mexicans from […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Shelby County v. Holder, 133 S. Ct. 2612 (2013) Case Summary of Shelby County v. Holder: Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act has a formula to identify any State or political subdivision that maintained tests or devices to suppress the minority vote as a “covered jurisdiction,” which under Section 5 of the Act […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950) Case Summary of Sweatt v. Painter: An African-American law school applicant was denied admission into the University of Texas Law School solely because of his race. Upon suit filed by the applicant, the university tried to set up a separate facility for African-American law students. The Texas […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) Case Summary of Loving v. Virginia: The State of Virginia had a law forbidding interracial marriages. An interracial couple from Virginia, the Lovings, married in Washington D.C. to avoid the Virginia law, but later settled in Virginia. When caught living together in Virginia, the couple was convicted […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972) Case Summary of Wisconsin v. Yoder: Members of the Amish religion, including Jonas Yoder, refused to send their children to school beyond the 8th grade for religious reasons. Because Wisconsin law compels school attendance for all children until age 16, Yoder and the other respondents were tried […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010) Case Summary of McDonald v. Chicago: Chicago residents, concerned about their own safety, challenged the City of Chicago’s handgun ban. Building on the Court’s recent decision in Heller, the petitioners sought to have the Second Amendment apply to the States, either under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Privileges or […]
Read moreThe term “limited government” refers to a government whose power is limited by the restrictions set forth in a constitution, or some such other governing authority. An example of a limited government is our own U.S. government. In other words, the U.S. government does not have any power other than that which is granted to it by the U.S. Constitution. […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Regents of Univ. of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978) Case Summary of Regents of Univ. of California v. Bakke: A white medical school applicant was twice rejected from the Univ. of California Medical School, though he had better scores than minority candidates who were accepted. Following a lawsuit, the state court found […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325 (1985) Case Summary of New Jersey v. T.L.O.: A 14-year-old high school student, T.L.O., was found smoking in the girls’ restroom at school. The Assistant Vice Principal subsequently searched her purse and found evidence of both cigarette smoking and marijuana dealing at the school. At the juvenile […]
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