Supreme Court Case Studies to the Teacher the Supreme Court Case Studies Booklet Contains 68 Reproducible Supreme Court Case Studies

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Supreme Court Case Studies to the Teacher the Supreme Court Case Studies Booklet Contains 68 Reproducible Supreme Court Case Studies Supreme Court Case Studies To the Teacher The Supreme Court Case Studies booklet contains 68 reproducible Supreme Court case studies. These cases include landmark decisions in American government that have helped and continue to shape this nation, as well as decisions dealing with current issues in American society. Every case includes background information, the constitutional issue under consideration, the Court’s decision, and where appropriate, dissenting opinions. Each two-page study requires students to analyze the case and apply critical thinking skills. An answer key is provided in the back of the booklet. Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce the material contained herein on the condition that such material be reproduced only for classroom use; be provided to students, teachers, and families, without charge; and be used solely in conjunction with Glencoe Social Studies products. Any other reproduction, for use or sale, is prohibited without written permission from the publisher. Send all inquiries to: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill 8787 Orion Place Columbus, Ohio 43240 ISBN 0-07-830788-0 Printed in the United States of America 123456789100470706050403 Table of Contents To the Teacher ...................................................................................................................................................... ii Supreme Court Case Studies Case Study 1: Marbury v. Madison, 1803 ............................................................................................................ 1 Case Study 2: McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819 ....................................................................................................... 3 Case Study 3: Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 1819......................................................................................... 5 Case Study 4: Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824 ................................................................................................................. 7 Case Study 5: Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857 ......................................................................................................... 9 Case Study 6: Ex Parte Milligan, 1866 ................................................................................................................. 11 Case Study 7: Slaughterhouse Cases, 1873........................................................................................................... 13 Case Study 8: Reynolds v. United States, 1879 ..................................................................................................... 15 Case Study 9: Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 ................................................................................................................. 17 Case Study 10: Northern Securities Company v. United States, 1904.................................................................. 19 Case Study 11: Weeks v. United States, 1914........................................................................................................ 21 Case Study 12: Schenck v. United States, 1919..................................................................................................... 23 Case Study 13: Gitlow v. New York, 1925............................................................................................................. 25 Case Study 14: Whitney v. California, 1927......................................................................................................... 27 Case Study 15: Olmstead v. United States, 1928 .................................................................................................. 29 Case Study 16: Near v. Minnesota, 1931.............................................................................................................. 31 Case Study 17: Powell v. Alabama, 1932.............................................................................................................. 33 Case Study 18: DeJonge v. Oregon, 1937.............................................................................................................. 35 Case Study 19: West Coast Hotel v. Parrish, 1937................................................................................................ 37 Case Study 20: Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 1940................................................................................. 39 Case Study 21: Betts v. Brady, 1942...................................................................................................................... 41 Case Study 22: West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 1943.......................................................... 43 Case Study 23: Endo v. United States, 1944 ......................................................................................................... 45 Case Study 24: Korematsu v. United States, 1944 ................................................................................................ 47 Case Study 25: Everson v. Board of Education, 1947 ........................................................................................... 49 Case Study 26: McCollum v. Board of Education, 1948....................................................................................... 51 Case Study 27: Dennis v. United States, 1951 ...................................................................................................... 53 Case Study 28: Feiner v. New York, 1951.............................................................................................................. 55 Case Study 29: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 1954 ............................................................... 57 Case Study 30: Yates v. United States, 1957.......................................................................................................... 59 Case Study 31: Barenblatt v. United States, 1959................................................................................................. 61 Case Study 32: Mapp v. Ohio, 1961 ................................................................................................................... 63 Case Study 33: Baker v. Carr, 1962.................................................................................................................... 65 Supreme Court Case Studies iii Case Study 34: Engel v. Vitale, 1962................................................................................................................... 67 Case Study 35: Abington School District v. Schempp, 1963 ............................................................................... 69 Case Study 36: Gideon v. Wainwright, 1963...................................................................................................... 71 Case Study 37: Escobedo v. Illinois, 1964 ........................................................................................................... 73 Case Study 38: Reynolds v. Sims, 1964............................................................................................................... 75 Case Study 39: Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964.......................................................................................................... 77 Case Study 40: Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States, 1964........................................................................... 79 Case Study 41: Miranda v. Arizona, 1966.......................................................................................................... 81 Case Study 42: Sheppard v. Maxwell, 1966........................................................................................................ 83 Case Study 43: Katz v. United States, 1967 ........................................................................................................ 85 Case Study 44: Gregory v. Chicago, 1969 ........................................................................................................... 87 Case Study 45: New York Times v. United States, 1971 ..................................................................................... 89 Case Study 46: Reed v. Reed, 1971...................................................................................................................... 91 Case Study 47: Wisconsin v. Yoder, 1972............................................................................................................ 93 Case Study 48: Roe v. Wade, 1973...................................................................................................................... 95 Case Study 49: United States v. Nixon, 1974 ..................................................................................................... 97 Case Study 50: Gregg v. Georgia, 1976............................................................................................................... 99 Case Study 51: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 1978.............................................................. 101 Case Study 52: Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation v. Weber, 1979.................................................. 103 Case Study 53: New Jersey v. T.L.O., 1985 ......................................................................................................... 105 Case Study 54: Wallace v. Jaffree, 1985 .............................................................................................................. 107 Case Study 55: Bethel School District v. Fraser, 1986 .......................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • A Contextual Examination of Three Historical Stages of Atheism and the Legality of an American Freedom from Religion
    ABSTRACT Rejecting the Definitive: A Contextual Examination of Three Historical Stages of Atheism and the Legality of an American Freedom from Religion Ethan Gjerset Quillen, B.A., M.A., M.A. Mentor: T. Michael Parrish, Ph.D. The trouble with “definitions” is they leave no room for evolution. When a word is concretely defined, it is done so in a particular time and place. Contextual interpretations permit a better understanding of certain heavy words; Atheism as a prime example. In the post-modern world Atheism has become more accepted and popular, especially as a reaction to global terrorism. However, the current definition of Atheism is terribly inaccurate. It cannot be stated properly that pagan Atheism is the same as New Atheism. By interpreting the Atheisms from four stages in the term‟s history a clearer picture of its meaning will come out, hopefully alleviating the stereotypical biases weighed upon it. In the interpretation of the Atheisms from Pagan Antiquity, the Enlightenment, the New Atheist Movement, and the American Judicial and Civil Religious system, a defense of the theory of elastic contextual interpretations, rather than concrete definitions, shall be made. Rejecting the Definitive: A Contextual Examination of Three Historical Stages of Atheism and the Legality of an American Freedom from Religion by Ethan Gjerset Quillen, B.A., M.A. A Thesis Approved by the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies ___________________________________ Robyn L. Driskell, Ph.D., Interim Chairperson Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Approved by the Thesis Committee ___________________________________ T.
    [Show full text]
  • ELIZABETH GURLEY FLYNN Labor's Own WILLIAM Z
    1111 ~~ I~ I~ II ~~ I~ II ~IIIII ~ Ii II ~III 3 2103 00341 4723 ELIZABETH GURLEY FLYNN Labor's Own WILLIAM Z. FOSTER A Communist's Fifty Yea1·S of ,tV orking-Class Leadership and Struggle - By Elizabeth Gurley Flynn NE'V CENTURY PUBLISIIERS ABOUT THE AUTHOR Elizabeth Gurley Flynn is a member of the National Com­ mitt~ of the Communist Party; U.S.A., and a veteran leader' of the American labor movement. She participated actively in the powerful struggles for the industrial unionization of the basic industries in the U.S.A. and is known to hundreds of thousands of trade unionists as one of the most tireless and dauntless fighters in the working-class movement. She is the author of numerous pamphlets including The Twelve and You and Woman's Place in the Fight for a Better World; her column, "The Life of the Party," appears each day in the Daily Worker. PubUo-hed by NEW CENTURY PUBLISH ERS, New York 3, N. Y. March, 1949 . ~ 2M. PRINTED IN U .S .A . Labor's Own WILLIAM Z. FOSTER TAUNTON, ENGLAND, ·is famous for Bloody Judge Jeffrey, who hanged 134 people and banished 400 in 1685. Some home­ sick exiles landed on the barren coast of New England, where a namesake city was born. Taunton, Mass., has a nobler history. In 1776 it was the first place in the country where a revolutionary flag was Bown, "The red flag of Taunton that flies o'er the green," as recorded by a local poet. A century later, in 1881, in this city a child was born to a poor Irish immigrant family named Foster, who were exiles from their impoverished and enslaved homeland to New England.
    [Show full text]
  • Earl Browder F I Eugene Dennis • Robert Minor John Willia-Mson • Roy · Hudson • Gil G R,Een Resolutions And.· Documents I • I R
    I . - > 20c FEBRUARY 1944 ' .. NATIONAL COMMITTE~ I PLENARY MEETING ISSUE ,. - • I ' ' ' AND PROBLEMS OF NATIONAL UNIT~ ' ·- ' . IN THE WAR AND THE POST-~AR I' • Earl Browder f I Eugene Dennis • Robert Minor John Willia-mson • Roy · Hudson • Gil G r,een Resolutions and.· Documents I • I r / I ' '. ' \' I , ... I f" V. I. L~NIN: A POLITICAL, BIOGRAP,HY 1' ' 'Pre pared by' the Mc);;·Engels.Le nin 'Institute, t his vo l­ ' ume provides b new ana authoritative 'study of t he life • and activities of the {9under and leader of the Soviet . Union up to thf;l time of Le11i n's death. P r.~ce $ 1.90 ~· .. • , f T'f'E RED ARMY By .Prof. I. Mi111. , The history and orgon lfqtion of the ~ed Army ·.and a iJt\fO redord1of its ~<;hievem e nfs fr9 m its foundation fhe epic V1cfory ,tal Stalingrad. Pl'i ce $1.25 I SOVIET ECONOMY AND !HE WAR By Dobb ,. ' Maur fc~ • ---1· •' A fadyal record of economic developm~nts during the last .few years with sp6""cial re?erence ..to itheir bearing '/' / on th~ war potentiaJ··and· the needs of the w~r. Price ~.25 ,- ' . r . ~ / .}·1 ' SOVIET PLANNING A~ D LABOR IN PEACE AND WAR By Maurice Oobb ' ' 1 - I A sh~y of economic pl~nning, the fln~ncia l . system, ' ' ' . work , wages, the econorpic effects 6f the war, end other ' '~>pecial aspects of the So'liet economic system prior to .( and during the w ~ r , · Price ·$.35 - I ' '-' I I • .. TH E WAR OF NATIONAL Llij.E R ATIO~ (in two· parts) , By Joseph ·stalin '· A collecfion of the wa~fime addr~sses of the Soviet - ; Premier and M<~rshal of the ·Rep Army, covering two I years 'o.f -the war ~gains+ the 'Axis.
    [Show full text]
  • UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title A Crenelated Wall: The Rise and Fall of Southern Baptist Institutions for the Separation of Church and State, 1936-1979 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/94z3m5b3 Author Ruckle, John Timothy Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California A Crenelated Wall: The Rise and Fall of Southern Baptist Institutions for the Separation of Church and State, 1936-1979 By John Timothy Ruckle Jr. A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor David A. Hollinger, Chair Professor Richard Cándida Smith Professor Richard E. Hutson Spring 2015 © 2015 by John Timothy Ruckle Jr. All rights reserved. Abstract A Crenelated Wall: The Rise and Fall of Southern Baptist Institutions for the Separation of Church and State, 1936-1979 by John Timothy Ruckle Jr. Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Berkeley Professor David A. Hollinger, Chair This dissertation centers on the origins and projects of the Baptist Joint Committee (BJC), founded and funded in 1936 by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), and the Protestants and Other Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (POAU), founded in 1948 as the brainchild of Southern Baptist elites. I argue these organizations were primarily concerned with opposing American Catholic projects, especially those which sought public monies for parochial schools. Ironically, the structures and organizations which greatly aided this effort to expand religious tolerance and liberty in this period had their origins in concerns about the Catholic Church and American Catholicism held by many Baptists.
    [Show full text]
  • Religious Liberty and the Supreme Court of the United States
    Fordham Law Review Volume 17 Issue 2 Article 1 1948 Religious Liberty and the Supreme Court of the United States Godfrey P. Schmidt Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Godfrey P. Schmidt, Religious Liberty and the Supreme Court of the United States, 17 Fordham L. Rev. 173 (1948). Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol17/iss2/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. It has been accepted for inclusion in Fordham Law Review by an authorized editor of FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FORDHAM LAW REVIEW VOLUME XVII NOVEMBER, 1948 NUMBER 2 RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES GODFREY P. SCHMIDTt ON JUNE 28, 1787 the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia had listened to a rather boring, two-day harangue by Luther Martin, the delegate from Maryland. He had been speaking in favor of an equal vote for each state as an essential to the federal idea. He made long quotations from Locke, Vattel, Somers, Priestley and Samuel Rutherford, all of them contemporary intellectual leaders, to support his particular theory of emphasized states' rights. According to James Madison, Martin spoke "with much diffuseness and considerable vehemence"; and ac- cording to Oliver Elsworth, he spoke with "eternal volubility." When at last Luther Martin had finished his plea to the Convention, others joined in the discussion.
    [Show full text]
  • LP001061 0.Pdf
    The James Lindahl Papers Papers, 1930s-1950s 29 linear feet Accession #1061 OCLC # DALNET # James Lindahl was born in Detroit in 1911. He served as Recording Secretary for the UAW-CIO Packard Local 190 and edited its newspaper in the 1930s and 1940s. Mr. Lindahl left the local in 1951 feeling that the labor movement no longer had a place for him. He earned a Master's degree from Wayne State University in Sociology in 1954 and later earned his living as a self-employed publisher in the Detroit area in various fields including retail, banking, and medicine. The James Lindahl Collection contains proceedings, reports, newspaper clippings, and election information pertaining to the UAW-CIO and its Packard Local 190 from the 1930s into the early 1950s. It also contains Mr. Lindahl's graduate school papers on local union membership and participation. The collection also contains publications, including pamphlets, books, periodicals, flyers and handbills, from many organizations such as the UAW, CIO, other labor unions and organizations, and the U.S. government from the 1930s into the early 1950s. Important subjects in the collection: UAW-CIO Packard Local 190 Union political activities Union leadership Ku Klux Klan Union membership Packard Motor Car Company 2 James Lindahl Collection CONTENTS 29 Storage Boxes Series I: General files, 1937-1953 (Boxes 1-6) Series II: Publications (Boxes 7-29) NON-MANUSCRIPT MATERIAL Approximately 12 union contracts and by-laws were transferred to the Archives Library. 3 James Lindahl Collection Arrangement The collection is arranged into two series. In Series I (Boxes 1-6), folders are simply listed by location within each box.
    [Show full text]
  • The Grievance and the Remedies Charles E
    Notre Dame Law School NDLScholarship Journal Articles Publications 1978 Conscientious Objection to Public Education: The Grievance and the Remedies Charles E. Rice Notre Dame Law School, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship Part of the Education Law Commons, and the Religion Law Commons Recommended Citation Charles E. Rice, Conscientious Objection to Public Education: The Grievance and the Remedies, 1978 BYU L.Rev. 847 (1978). Available at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/53 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Publications at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal Articles by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Conscientious Objection to Public Education: The Grievance and the Remedies Charles E. Rice* "This is a quiet place," said John Fink, an 18-year-old sen- ior at Norfolk Christian School in Norfolk, Va. "The Lord helps us work things out." The hallways of Norfolk Christian are lined with student lockers that have no locks. A sign at one entrance reads, "This is my Father's world." Across the street is a public school, its pupil ranks thinned by the growing enrollments of private schools like Norfolk Christian.' An estimated 4,804,000 children-9.8% of the total elemen- tary and secondary school enrollments-attended nonpublic schools in 1976. Of these children, 86% were enrolled in church- related schools.2 The most notable development in this area has been the rapid growth of so-called Christian schools.3 "A Chris- tian school," said Pastor Levi Whisner, a party in one of the leading court cases in the area,' "has a Bible-oriented curriculum, Bible standards and a Christian atmosphere, a born-again true Christian leadership with Bible discipline."' At these schools, students are exposed to a learning environment that is considerably more conservative and narrow than the environment found at most older, more traditional church schools.
    [Show full text]
  • Eugene Dennis Indicts the Wall Street Conspirators
    University of Central Florida STARS PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements 1-1-1948 Eugene Dennis indicts the Wall Street conspirators Dugene Dennis Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/prism University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Book is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recommended Citation Dennis, Dugene, "Eugene Dennis indicts the Wall Street conspirators" (1948). PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements. 231. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/prism/231 EUGENE: DENNIS two cents TO TEE READER TI& pemphk is the text of an addrea delivered by Eugsw hmia, General Sscrstarp of tha h- mudst Pnrty, to a capacity audience at Madim bCarden, New Yo& an tho mdon of the opaniag aasaion of the 14th Mstional Convention of tbs Commania~Party, on August 2, 1918. His speech was in answer to the arrest, on July 20, of &a twelve of the Netbd Board of rha Communist Party, indid on of "mu- +$ M ast4bh.h ah oq4nimth teachas %me and vialenmm The text of Mr. Dennis' political to the Communist Party's Convention is pubbhed h 8 esparate pamphlet, Tha FdtDanger and Hole to C& It, published by New Centnry Publishers, NmYo* price 15 cente. The six membem ol the National Board of ths Party, shown on pageo 8 and 9, anWilliam Z Fwtsr, hnjdn J. Da& Eugene Dm& Hemrg WW, John Williamswl, snd Jack Stacecl mambstl ~inrlss~bdiammandJ~~ - ThDmppn, w.w Fwd.
    [Show full text]
  • Religion and First Amendment Prosecutions: an Analysis of Justice Black's Constitutional Interpretation
    Pepperdine Law Review Volume 10 Issue 2 Article 2 1-15-1983 Religion and First Amendment Prosecutions: An Analysis of Justice Black's Constitutional Interpretation Constance Mauney Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/plr Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, Courts Commons, First Amendment Commons, Judges Commons, Jurisprudence Commons, and the Religion Law Commons Recommended Citation Constance Mauney Religion and First Amendment Prosecutions: An Analysis of Justice Black's Constitutional Interpretation, 10 Pepp. L. Rev. Iss. 2 (1983) Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/plr/vol10/iss2/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Caruso School of Law at Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pepperdine Law Review by an authorized editor of Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Religion and First Amendment Protections: An Analysis of Justice Black's Constitutional Interpretation DR. CONSTANCE MAUNEY* Justice Hugo L. Black served on the United States Supreme Court over a period of thirty-four years, encompassing Supreme Court terms from 1937 to 1971. During this period, the subject of the constitutional limitations of the freedom of religion was increasingly subjected to intense social pressures. Justice Black figured prominently in the development of constitutional law as the Supreme Court attempted to give meaning to the establishment and free exercise clause of the first amendment. He wrote the majority opinions which dealt with the establishment clause in the Everson, McCul- loin, Engel and Torcaso cases.
    [Show full text]
  • U588o55 1948.Pdf
    100 Things You Should Know About Communism in the U. S. A. Forty years ago, Communism was just a plot in the minds of a very few peculiar people. Today, Communism is a world force governing millions of the human race and threatening to govern all of it. Who are the Communists? How do they work? What do they want? What would they do to you? For the past IO years your committee has studied these and other questions and now some positive answers can be made. Some answers will shock the citizen who has not examined Com- munism closely. Most answers will infuriate the Communists. These answers are given in five booklets, as follows: 1. One Hundred Things You Should Know About Commu- nism in the U. S. A. 2. One Hundred Things You Should Know About .Commu- nism in Religion. 3. One Hundred Things You Should Know About Commu- nism in Education. 4. One Hundred Things You Should Know About Commu- nism in Labor. 5. One Hundred Things You Should Know About Commu- nism in Government. These booklets are intended to help you know a Communist when you hear him speak and when you see him work. If you ever find yourself in open debate with a Communist the facts here given can be used to destroy his arguments completely and expose him as he is for all to see. Every citizen owes himself and his family the truth about Com- munism because the world today is faced with a single choice: To go Communist or not to go Communist.
    [Show full text]
  • Joseph Clark Dreams and Nightmares
    BOOKS Joseph Clark Dreams and Nightmares THE ROMANCE OF AMERICAN COMMUNISM, by Vivian Gornick. New York: Basic Books. 333 pp. $10. A FINE OLD CONFLICT, by Jessica Mitford. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 265 pp. $10. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN AMERICAN COMMUNIST: A PERSONAL VIEW OF A POLITICAL LIFE, by Peggy Dennis. Westport, Conn.: Lawrence Hill & Co. 302 pp. Paper, $5.95. THE GREAT GAME, by Leopold Trepper. New York: McGraw-Hill. 442 pp. $10.95. N ow I know why I flunked the test given by touching to see how some—in what we once Vivian Gornick at lunch in a Chinese restaurant. It lovingly called the capitalist press—have taken the turned out that she was screening me for an Gornick description to heart. The New Y ork Times interview to be used in a book she was writing on published a section of the Gornick "passion" in its the romance of American Communism. But Book Review, followed by a laudatory review by a between the egg roll and the fortune cookie she democratic socialist, whose emphasis on the crucial apparently concluded that I was not among those requirement, that socialism must above all be who "walked the wire successfullly and remained democratic, played a part in the departure of this whole and strong." Clearly, both her thesis and reviewer from the Communist movement. A ideology were so neatly packaged in advance that number of "capitalist" journals now print reviews she did not want to add my experience to that of an of books on the Communist experience, which twit old, departed friend and comrade whom she had former Communists for daring to entertain bitter already interviewed.
    [Show full text]
  • Why Dennis? Michal R
    Marquette Law Review Volume 96 Article 5 Issue 4 Symposium: Wickersham Commission Why Dennis? Michal R. Belknap Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr Repository Citation Michal R. Belknap, Why Dennis?, 96 Marq. L. Rev. 1013 (2013). Available at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr/vol96/iss4/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marquette Law Review by an authorized administrator of Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 10 BELKNAP (DO NOT DELETE) 6/23/2013 11:16 AM WHY DENNIS? MICHAL R. BELKNAP* Those members of Congress who resisted the creation of the national investigative agency that became the FBI, according to Athan Theoharis, feared establishing a political police force, comparable to the ones that had terrorized Napoleonic France and tsarist Russia.1 The way to accomplish their objective, they believed, was by restricting any organization Congress might create to detecting and prosecuting crimes against the United States. But would such a limitation have made the FBI any less of a threat to civil liberties than it became under the leadership of Director J. Edgar Hoover?2 For an answer to that question one need look no further than the case of Dennis v. United States.3 That assault on the First Amendment provides a negative answer to the question of whether restricting a national police agency to the investigation of federal crimes would indeed protect American civil liberties from the threat posed by a political police force.
    [Show full text]