Court Cases

1800's

Dred Scott vs. Sandford was a Federal Court case that took place during 1857 in which Dred Scott, an African American slave who was taken from a slave state to a free territory tried to sue his master for his freedom. At this time, property rights were guaranteed to slave owners, even if they were above the border. The court said that African Americans, despite being free or a slave were not allowed to be American citizens and could not sue in a federal court. This led to a 7-2 decision that denied Scott's freedom. Frederick Douglass found a bright side to the decision and announced, "my hopes were never brighter than now." For Douglass, the decision would bring slavery to the attention of the nation and this would be one step closer to the destruction of slavery.

Plessy vs. Ferguson was a Supreme Court case that took place during 1896 in which Homer Plessy, a man of 1/8th African decent was arrested for sitting in the "whites only" car on a train. Despite being 7/8th's Caucasian, Plessy was arrested and according to the Louisiana law, he was classified as black, and thus required to sit in the "colored" car. Plessy was found guilty in all of the trials due to the law being a reasonable exercise of "the state’s police powers based upon custom, usage, and tradition in the state" (lawnix.com).





1900's

Brown vs. Board of Education was a Supreme Court case that took place during 1952-1954 in which the Court declared state laws which established separate public schools for both blacks and whites to be unconstitutional. With over a year of constant debating, the courts came to an agreement which led to The Board of Education of Topeka to stop segregation in the Topeka elementary schools in August of 1953. The decision was finally made and it slowly led to the growth of our nations mixed race educational system which has led on through present day.

Miranda vs. Arizona was a Supreme Court case that took place during 1966 in which Ernesto Miranda was arrested due to being linked to the kidnapping and rape of an 18 year old girl. Miranda signed a paper confessing to the rape charges yet he was not told that he was allowed to remain silent and that he didn't have to confess to discuss anything with anyone. Due to this, Miranda's conviction was overturned which led to the creation of the Miranda Rights; rights read to an individual who is arrested and must be told them prior to his arrest and detainment. This changed history by allowing the U.S. government to not have to let out various criminals because they were not read their rights and it helped imprison many more in the long run.