The Law Dictionary for Everyone
The term posse comitatus describes a group of able-bodied people formed – usually by a sheriff – for the purpose of defending the country, or to prevent others from breaking the law. Authorities no longer rely on posse comitatus, though the concept still exists as part of the American legal system. For example, a posse comitatus formed up in 2018, and […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, 300 U.S. 379 (1937) Case Summary of West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish: The State of Washington passed a minimum wage law for women (and minors). Elsie Parrish worked as a housekeeper in the West Coast Hotel. The Hotel did not pay Parrish the statutory minimum wage. Parrish […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (1952) Case Summary of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer: Responding to a threatened nationwide steel worker strike and concerned that much-needed steel would not be available to prosecute the Korean War, President Truman ordered federal control over most of the steel mills […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, 402 U.S. 1 (1971) Case Summary of Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education: Having implemented a desegregation plan, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system still had de facto segregation, with many African-American students still attending many schools that were at least 99% African-American. Petitioner Swann sued, and the District Court […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton, 515 U.S. 646 (1995) Case Summary of Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton: Finding that the drug problem in the school district was getting alarmingly worse, and that school athletes were leaders in the drug culture at school, the Vernonia School District 47J created a student-athlete drug policy. […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677 (2005) Case Summary of Van Orden v. Perry: Thomas Van Orden sued the State of Texas in federal court, claiming that a monument of the Ten Commandments sitting on the grounds of the State capitol building violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. Both the federal district court […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97 (1968) Case Summary of Epperson v. Arkansas: The State of Arkansas passed a law in 1928 that made it a criminal offense to teach evolution in public schools A teacher, Epperson, in the 1965-66 term was told to teach from a new textbook that had a chapter on […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for NAACP v. Alabama, 357 U.S. 449 (1958) Case Summary of NAACP v. Alabama: The State of Alabama had a business statute that required foreign corporations to qualify with State officials before doing business in the State. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a non-profit corporation created in New York. […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640 (2000) Case Summary of Boy Scouts of America v. Dale: James Dale was a Boy Scout from the age of 8. He was an exemplary Scout and eventually became an Eagle Scout. He was accepted in the Scouts as an adult scoutmaster until the Boy […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702 (1997) Case Summary of Washington v. Glucksberg: Four doctors, three terminally ill patients, and a non-profit group brought a suit challenging the State of Washington’s ban on physician-assisted suicide. They argued that the ban was unconstitutional because it violated due process. The District Court and Ninth Circuit Court […]
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