General Websites
US Supreme Court Website
Official site. Good for tracking current cases.
Findlaw
Easily searchable full text of Court decisions, mostly from the twentieth century. You can also sign up for email alerts to be notified whenever the Supreme Court hands down a decision.
Oyez Project
Link to an excellent website on the US Supreme Court maintained by Northwestern University.
Famous Trials Site
An excellent site on dozens of famous trials throughout history (not only in the US).
Bill of Rights Golf
For hopeless legal geeks only.
Constitutional Trivia
Even geekier than Bill of Rights Golf.
Oyez Baseball
Yeah, some folks with some serious free time on their hands. You have to love both baseball and the Supreme Court to get much out of this one.
Class 6
Johnson v. M’Intosh complete
A link to the complete text of Johnson v. M’Intosh, in case you’re interested in reading all of it.
Class 9
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Link to website that connects Plessy to later cases about “separate but equal” in education.
Class 10
Bradwell v. State of Illinois (1872)
Slightly abridged. Full text is at 83 U.S. 130 (1872).
Bradwell v. State of Illinois (1872)
Link to full text of decision.
United States v. Schwimmer (1929)
Link to full text - read this in its entirety.
Ozawa v. U.S. (1922)
Link to full text - not required reading, but worth looking at.
Class 12
NLRB v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Co. (1937)
Link to full text at 301 U.S. 1 (1937). You are not required to read this, but you might want to.
Class 15
Chaplinsky v. State of New Hampshire (1942)
Link to full text at 315 U.S. 568 (1942).
National Socialist Party v. Skokie (1977)
First Supreme Court ruling on the Skokie march.
National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie (1977)
Full text of the final Supreme Court decision – not that interesting.
Terminiello v. City of Chicago (1949)
Totally optional reading – this is an early case about the rights of radical speakers.
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
Optional reading – this is a case about free speech and flag burning.
Class 17
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
Optional Reading: This is a link to the full text of Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972).
Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel v. Grumet (1994)
Optional Reading: This is a link to the full text of Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet, 512 U.S. 687 (1994), in which the Court considered whether setting up a school district to serve the needs of students with special needs who were almost exclusively Jewish was a violation of the First Amendment.
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002)
Required Reading: Here you’ll find a link to a site that includes background readings on the vouchers debate, the briefs, and the Court’s ruling.
Class20
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Link to full text of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
Class 21
Cruzan v. MDH (1990)
Link to the full text of Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health, 497 U.S. 261 (1990). This is the Supreme Court’s only statement on the right to die.
Cruzan v. MDH (1990): Abridged
An abridged version of the Cruzan case.
Class 22
The Michigan Cases: Briefs
Here’s a link to the slew of amicus briefs in the Michigan cases. Take a look at one or two from each side – and take a special look at the MIT brief.
The Michigan Cases: Michigan
Link to the website maintained by the University of Michigan.
The Michigan Cases: Center for Individual Rights
Link to the website of the Center for Individual Rights.
Class 24
United States v. Virginia (1996)
Link to full text of the VMI decision in United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996).
Title IX: Overview
Weblink. Read the “Overview of Title IX” and “History of Title IX” and whatever else you want.
Title IX: “Open to All”
Link to the full text of the Secretary of Education’s Commission on Opportunity in Athletics. It’s long, and well summarized in the Chronicle article, so you don’t have to read this.
Title IX: NCWGE Report
Link to the text of a long report from the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education on Title IX. Completely optional reading – it’s quite long.
Class 25
Loving v. Virginia (1967)
Link to the full text of the case Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967).
Baker v. Vermont (1999)
Link to an abridged version of Baker v. State of Vermont, 744 A.2d 865 (Vt. 1999).
Rutland Herald editorials
Link to the Pulitzer-prize-winning editorials from the Rutland Herald in the midst of Vermont’s debates over gay marriage after Baker v. Vermont.
Class 27
Clinton v. Jones (1997)
Link to decision in Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681 (1997).
Bush v. Gore (2000)
Link to the full decision in Bush v. Gore (2000). Read as much of all the various decisions as you can.
Bush v. Gore (2000)
Link to background materials on the case (briefs, lower court rulings, etc.).
Class 29
Joseph Lelyveld, “In Guantanamo”
Link to article from New York Review of Books 49 no. 17 (November 7, 2002). It’s long, but it’s good.
ACLU Quiz on the “No-Fly List”
It’s not quite Constitutional Baseball, but it’s okay.
