Rest of Civil Liberties Assessment Cases Flashcards
D.C. v. Heller (2008)
District of Columbia law - Firearms kept unloaded and disassembled, and could only be kept in a home if given a 1-year license that was rlly hard to get like rlly rlly not easy and thus effectively banned
Questions:
1. Was “Militia” just a reference to a state-sponsored military? (Prefatory Clause)
2. Should the right to bear arms be solely reserved for members of a group (like a militia/state-sponsored military)? (Operative Clause)
- 5-4 decision, rules were too strict for guns to be usable, militias not always part of military, individuals = able to possess and carry guns for self-defense
- Did not say which specific weapons were constitutionally protected and which were not
- 14th Amendment does NOT apply a “watered down, subjective version of the BOR”
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
CT (and other states) do not have the right to prevent birth control, right of privact comes from:
- 1st freedom of association
- 3rd freedom from getting quarteded by soldier boy
- 4th free from unreasonable searches and seizures
- 5th protection from self-incrimination
- 9th rights not explicit in BOR
Roe v. Wade (1973)
Q: Does a woman’s right to abortion take precedent over states’ interests in the women’s health or the fetus’s life?
A: Only if it does not pose a “substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion before the fetus attains viability.”
Outlawed:
- Doctors having admitting rights at local hospitals
- Abortions occurring only at special surgical centers
- Spousal notification
see TDSCOTUSCGGD
Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
Dollree Mapp convicted of having “lewd and lascivious books, pictures, and photographs” violating Ohio code thru a warrantless search of her and another family’s home (same house) for a fugitive connected to a bombing
Officers held up a fake warrant, searched entire house and seized pornography in her drawer, put on trial for breaking Ohio law
No reference to or explanation of lack of warrant during trial
Mapp won, EXCLUSIONARY RULE - evidence gotten illegally cannot be used in court (unless gotted in good faith)
New Jersey v. TLO (1985)
1980 - Teacher finds 2 girls smoking in bathroom, a no smoking zone of the school (by school rules), one of the girls, TLO, said she did not smoke
Assistant Vice principal Choplick calls to office, tells her to give him her purse, where he finds cigarettes
Sees cigarette rolling papers, probable cause of Marijuana, teaches further finds marijuana and letters implying TLO was dealing weed
Choplick gives items to police station, New Jersey charges her of delinquency
TLO cites 4th amendment to keep evidence from purse and her confession out of court
Strickland v. Washington (1984)
To prove incompetence:
1. Defendants have to go to court and prove their lawyer was incompetent
2. Plus prove they would have won the case if they had a competent lawyer
3. Creates more incompetence in the system, virtually impossible to prove as someone would be able to have defended themselves in the first place
Argersinger v. Hamlin (1972)
Defendants facing jail time for misdemeanor also given free lawyer
Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)
Q: Pennsylvania informed consent of husband or parents + 24 hour waiting period challenged
Constitutional Amendments: 9th and 14th
A: Husband informed consent = gone, but waiting period there, + fetus viable at 23-24 weeks
Undue Burden test - Chipped away at Roe v. Wade, bans abortion earlier, states can regulate w/o having to prove its intended to protect mother
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
Mississippi Gestational Age Act = All abortions 15 weeks after last menstrual cycle
Miss. only licensed abortion clinic sued, US District Court stopped MS enforcing law, state did not provide evid. fetus viability after 15 weeks
- 6-3 decision for Dobbs, Constitution does not mention abortion, right is not deeply rooted in national history nor essential for liberty
- Legal abortion might = legal drugs and prostitution
- Different than contraception, interracial and same-sex marriage bcz potential life is destroyed
- Roe and Casey overturned
US v. Texas
Texas’ SB 8 prohibiting abortion after 6 gestational weeks/2 or less weeks after missed period (basically banning it)
Requires ultrasound for “electrical activity in developing cells”
Exceptions for medical emergencies but no rape or incest
Allowing lawsuits against ppl who performs or helps in an abortion (ppl who do not know defendant and even those out of state can sue, can earn up to $10,000 for doing so)
“Trigger law” banning abortion 30 days after Roe overturned
NY State Rife and Pistol Associal Inc. v. Bruen
NY law - Person shows “special need” for self protection in order to get concealed carry
- 6-3 NY and other special need requirements struck down as it = effective ban of guns
- Recognized ppl could carry guns in public
- Did not strike down all concealed carry
US v. Vuitch (1971)
- DC law prohibits abortions unless life or health endangered by pregnancy
- Dr. Vuitch arrested, argued only doctor could determine whether abortion was necessary
- SCOTUS does not overturn law, just says “health” includes physical and mental well-being
