Key Landmark Decisions of the United States of America Supreme Court
- Introduction
- Plessy v Ferguson
- The Political ideology
- Conclusion
Two landmark decisions of the United States of America Supreme Court, Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896) and Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966) have a played a key role in anchoring constitutionalism and have provided a varied interpretation of the constitution in everyday judicial decisions. arriving at them. The rulings were important in shaping application of the constitution in practical terms (Plessy v. Ferguson) and also in securing the rights of the accused person in protecting his or her innocence (Miranda v. Arizona).
[...] The Miranda v Arizona ruling has also had the impact of shaping the practice of law and especially the application of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments of the constitution. References Amar, A. R. (2011). Plessy v. Ferguson and the Anti-Canon. Pepperdine Law Review, 39(75), 75-90. Retrieved May from http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4706&context= fss_papers Greene, J. L. [...]
[...] Retrieved May from http://www.twyman- whitney.com/constitutiontest/landmarkrulingssupremecourt.pdf Josset, J. L. (1996). May it Please the Constitution: Judicial Activism and its Effect on Criminal Procedure. Marquette Law Review, 1021-1040. Retrieved May from http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1555&contex t=mulr Schauer, F. (2013). The Miranda Warning. Washington Law Review, 155- 170. [...]
[...] 1C.The language of both the decisions and the dissenting views of the day also strongly reflected the mood of the day. In the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling, for example, the Justices were at pains to interpret the decidedly racist and clearly white-race favoring law to conform with what was the conventional wisdom of the day, that the segregation was allowed due to public health and safety concerns and that it had nothing to with the political rights of the coloreds which were at par with those of the whites. [...]
[...] The Supreme Court ruling was a landmark in the way accused persons are questioned prior to being charged in court. It also made the reading of the accused's rights a mandatory requirement. Initially there was fear that this decision would lead to as one of the justices said, the setting free of killers, rapists and other criminals who would then go out and commit crime again but it also emphasized the doctrine of presumption of innocence, a key constitutional right (Schauer, 2013). [...]