The common understanding of our Separation of Powers system of government is that the Congress writes and passes laws, 总统签署并执行法律和法院, 特别是最高法院, 根据宪法原则解释和适用法律. 虽然这是我们系统的准确定义, it does not fully appreciate the enormous policymaking power of the federal courts to move beyond their established role in government to revise and “re-invent” the meaning of constitutional principles based on the social conditions and political circumstances of the times.
在这个国家的历史进程中, the Supreme Court has delivered numerous significant decisions that have shaped our country in areas such as civil rights, 罪犯权利, 生育权, 性别权利. These decisions have had a major impact on the way we live and work and think as a people and as a country. Many of these decisions have created deep-seated disagreements and even conflicts in our society, but all of them are remembered as part of our national narrative as the Courts seek to determine the character and course of our nation.
以显示最高法院的决定随着时间的推移对政策制定的影响, the following are some of the most important and controversial cases that have come before the Justices for their decisions:
德雷德·斯科特五世. 桑福德,1857
首席大法官罗杰·泰尼(Roger Taney)撰写, 德雷德·斯科特案的裁决确立了宪法不认为奴隶是美国的奴隶.S. 而是保护奴隶主的财产. 尽管斯科特和他的主人一起去了一个自由州, 伊利诺斯州, 然后又回到奴隶状态, 密苏里州, Justice Taney stated that Scott never was free and accented the importance of state’s rights as the basis for his decision. 德雷德·斯科特五世. Sanford is often considered one of the factors instrumental in pushing this country into the Civil War.
普莱西诉. 弗格森1896
延续最高法院支持奴隶制的判决, 警察逮捕了一名“有色人种”,“霍默·普莱西, 谁有八分之一的黑人血统, 因为他拒绝离开白人专用车厢. 法院支持这种种族限制, 通常被称为吉姆·克劳法, stating that such laws did not violate the Constitution as long as states supported “separate but equal” treatment. 历史证明, 各州没有提供隔离但平等的便利, 运输, 浴室设施，甚至饮水机.
布朗诉. 教育委员会，1954年
托皮卡一案的判决, Kansas ended the “separate but equal” standard of treatment for blacks and supported a desegregated public school system. 黑人社区的公立学校在图书资助方面明显不平等, 建筑, 还有师生比例. 尽管白人对法院的废除种族隔离政策有广泛的不满, 布朗案的判决以及1964年民权法案的通过, 种族关系各方面的融合时代正式开始.
恩格尔v. 1962年,维托
纽约州校董会起草并批准了一份自愿的, 每天上学开始时要念的不分教派的祷文. 一些家长反对祈祷并提起诉讼. 学校董事会表示，因为祈祷是自愿的, 它受到第一修正案言论自由的保护. The Court decided 6-1 that the prayer violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and was in violation of the long-standing principle of separation of church and state. 近年来, 在布雷默顿的一个案子里, Washington upheld the right of a public high school football coach to pray with his players at the end of the game as protected by his right of free speech and religious liberty. 许多人认为，这一决定打破了隔离标准.
吉迪恩v. 温赖特,1963
A significant decision in advancing the rights of criminals by the Supreme Court involved the state of Florida’s conviction of Clarence Gideon for breaking into a pool hall, 重罪. 但因为他很穷，请不起律师为他辩护，基甸就被送进了监狱. Gideon appealed and the Court stated that the government must provide legal counsel to defendants in felony cases, therefore establishing the legal standard of the right of citizens charged with a crime to counsel by a public defender.
米兰达v. 亚利桑那州,1966
The Supreme Court held that Ernesto Miranda’s confession to kidnapping and rape was unconstitutional on the basis that the confession was gained without Miranda being informed of his right to remain silent and his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. This decision led to the now famous Miranda rights practice that police must follow when arresting an alleged criminal.
罗伊诉. 韦德,1973
Norma McCorvey, a woman in Texas, sought an abortion but was not permitted to have the procedure. The Court decided that the Texas policy violated McCorvey’s right to choose based on a right to privacy. 尽管宪法中没有隐私权, the Court majority found that such privacy is understood by the wording of the Fifth and 14th Amendments. 执政的, 这是法院历史上最具争议的案件之一, established standards for abortion permitting the procedure usually up until the third month of the pregnancy. Subsequent decisions addressed abortion rights for 未成年人 and sites where abortions can be carried out, 但罗伊案判决中规定的堕胎权一直保留到2022年.
奥贝格费尔诉霍奇斯案，2015
The Court in a divided decision held that the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment provides and guarantees the right to marry as an essential liberty that must be protected, 这项保护适用于同性伴侣，就像异性伴侣一样. 这一决定为同性恋夫妇作为国家认可的权利结婚打开了大门. 就像罗伊案的判决一样, 奥贝格费尔受到保守派的严厉批评，但最终得到了广泛的支持.
多布斯v. 杰克逊妇女健康组织，2022年
这一决定具有重大的宪法和政治意义, the Supreme Court with Justice Samuel Alito writing for the majority stated the Constitution did not confer a right to an abortion and that the right to regulate abortion is “returned to the people and their elected representatives.“到目前为止, 28 states have passed legislation denying access to abortion with varying time limits and circumstances.
目前, 多布斯案是全国选举政治的中心议题, not only because the decision removed what was a precedent-setting right that many women viewed as encased in the law, but because both 总统 Biden and former 总统 Trump have made abortion rights an integral part of their campaign strategy. 就像德雷德·斯科特，普莱西诉. 弗格森诉布朗案. 教育委员会的决定对民权运动起了重要作用, the decisions of the Supreme Court of today play a large role in how this nation views its values, 关于妇女和生育的信仰和权利. It is important to remember that the justices of federal judiciary are political appointees of the 总统 and in the case of the Dobbs decision, the three conservative justices appointed by 总统 Trump made not just a constitutional statement but a political one as well. 正如许多专家经常说的那样, “选举问题,” and thus a nearly 50 years right to have an abortion has now been negated by over half of the states as a conservative dominated Supreme Court exercised its policymaking role.