⇒ The Roberts Court (current) held up the Partial-Birth Abortion Act, which chipped away at a women's right to abortion. It doesn't affect early term abortions but places limits on late-term abortions. Congress tried to ban the procedure in the 1990's but Bill Clinton vetoed any legislation restricting the right to choose
⇒ Bush and republican-held Congress successfully passed a law in 2003 that banned partial-birth abortion
⇒ Critics say that Gonzales vs Carhart affects Roe vs Wade 1973, which legalised abortion
⇒ Case shows a marked shift rightwards for a court that has seen 3 new justices appointed by Republican Presidents (Alito, Roberts and Gorsuch)
⇒ The court struck down Texas law banning homosexual acts
⇒ The case gave consenting adults, within the privacy of their own home, the right to participate in gay activity
⇒ Decision indicates how former chief justice Rehnquist presided over a court that was at times moderate and even liberal, despite him and many of his colleagues having been appointed by Republicans
⇒ This case has since become a central battleground for moral conservatives and liberals
⇒ Court appeared to be siding with women and their right to choose what to do with their bodies and against the rights of unborn children
⇒ Successive Republican presidents, particularly George W Bush, won over conservatives by promising to nominate judges who would overturn Roe vs Wade 1973
⇒ In 1992 the court struck down a law that would have required teenagers to notify parents before they have a termination (Planned Parenthood vs Casey 1992)
⇒ In Whole Womans Health vs Hellerstedt (2016), the court struck down a Texas law that imposed stringent new medical standards on abortion clinics, and which would have resulted in their closure if they failed to comply
⇒ Brown vs the Board of Education of Topeka 1954 outlawed century long practice of legalised segregation, as had been laid down in Plessy vs Ferguson 1896
⇒ Affirmative Action consists of programmes that give members of previously disadvantaged minorities a head-start in areas such as higher education and employment. Many critics question what has changed however.
⇒ Quotas were introduced in schools, universities, housing and public sector professions. Conservatives feel that quotas discriminate against better qualified students
⇒ California vs Bakke 1978 - the court didn’t ban Affirmative Action. The court ruled that race could be used as "one of several" factors to take into account. But it did ban quotas. It was felt that quotas use race as the "sole" determinant of entry to a profession or a school, which therefore "constitutes reverse discrimination"
⇒ Grutter vs Bollinger 2003 - Sandra Day O'Connor wrote that while affirmative action was needed, the policy would be obsolete by 2028. The tide appeared to shift with those words
⇒ Parents vs Seattle 2007 and Meredith vs Jefferson 2007 declared the practice of using racial quotas to achieve "racial balance" in schools unconstitutional. The court split 5 – 4 in both cases, indicating how the court is still divided on this issue, as is the country
⇒ Schuette vs Bahm 2014 - court ruled that states have the right to choose whether affirmative action is permissible. This case, and others like it, suggests the court is returning to a "states' rights" agenda. However, in Fisher vs University of Texas 2016, the court ruled that universities can have policies that "promote diversity", giving affirmative action a much-needed shot in the arm
⇒ Shelby vs Holder 2013, the court struck down part of the Voting Rights Act 1965, which required some Southern states with a history of racial intolerance to ask permission to change their election laws. This has allowed some of these states to introduce voter ID laws, which critics believe will lead to lower voter turnout in ethnic minority communities
⇒ The death penalty was legalised in Gregg vs Georgia 1976. It was not deemed a "cruel and unusual punishment" which the constitution prohibits. Allowing the Iraqi government to execute Saddam was not controversial to US citizens
⇒ The Roberts court, which is conservative-leaning, has chipped away at the death penalty
⇒ Atikins vs Virginia 2002 declared unconstitutional the practice of executing offenders who are mentally ill
⇒ Roper vs Simons 2005 banned death penalty to offenders for crimes committed when they were under 18
⇒ Lockyer vs Andrade 2003 - the court ruled that California's 3 strike policy was constitutional. Allows an offender to be given up to life for committing the same offence thrice.
⇒ Glossip vs Gross 2015 - the court permitted states to use a drug linked to botched lethal injections
⇒ Also see our notes on: