The United States Supreme Court Decisions - 1451 Words

As a student or professional in the criminal justice field, one will undoubtedly cross paths with the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. (U.S. Const. amend. IV) The source of many United States Supreme Court decisions, these often debated words seek to protect citizens against abuses of power by the government. Although the intent of these few words are clear, the debate stems from the attempts to interpret the intent of the framers. Three major interpretations have been developed from the debates surrounding the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. These interpretations are the warrant approach, the reasonableness approach and the special needs approach. We will begin by discussing the warrant approach which is also the traditional approach to interpret the Fourth Amendment. The warrant approach focused on limiting valid searches to those done with a warrant based on probable cause (Bacigal, 1979). This meant that in order for a search to be valid under the Fourth Amendment there had to be judicial approval in advance of the search except when justified by absolute necessity (Stelzner, 1979). Proponents of this approachShow MoreRelate dDecision Making Is At The Core Of The United States Supreme Court2095 Words   |  9 PagesDecision-making is at the core of the United States Supreme Court. The justices are not immune to possessing political ideologies and similarly to the American public, those ideologies impact their lives to varying degrees. The facet of judicial politics explored in this paper is decision-making and the impact of ideology. While it would be ideal for the Supreme Court to have zero influences other than the constitution, it is also wishful thinking. Author Jeffrey Toobin agrees with political scientistsRead MoreMajor Supreme Court Cases Under Judge John Marshall1482 Words   |  6 PagesThe decisions made by Supreme Court chief justice John Marshall have had a major influence on todays Judiciary System. One of his major decisions was in the case Marbury v. Madison, in which he set the precedent of judicial review. Another major decision is in the case McCulloch v. Maryland, in this case Mars hall ruled that Congress possesses certain implied powers. Other major decisions made by Marshall were in the cases Dartmouth College v. Woodward, Gibbons v. Ogden, in which Marshall definedRead MoreAmerican Courts And Substantive Law1343 Words   |  6 PagesAmerican courts and substantive law? We have learned that there are many parts of the American courts. Each court has its own responsibility, in this paper I will specify all of the responsibilities and the courts, state and federal, I will also identify the difference between them for better understanding. Furthermore I will continue to go into detail and state what I have learned about American courts and substantive law. There are four main federal courts in America; The United states Supreme CourtRead MoreThe Legal Cases Of The Supreme Court919 Words   |  4 PagesThe Supreme Court is the courtroom where all the legal cases dealing with congress or the constitution go to get a final decision. The Court is currently composed of a chief justice, eight associate justices, and nine officers. Their main goal as members of the Supreme Court is to make sure everything and anything abides by the constitution. It has many powers when it comes to law and especially the constitution, but it is not overly powerful due to the other two branches of the government. ChecksRead MoreThe Marshall Court1518 Words   |  7 Pagesby one entity--the United States Supreme Court. This part of government ensures that the freedoms of the American people are protected by checking the laws that are passed by Congress and the actions taken by the President. While the judicial branch may have developed later than its counterp arts, many of the powers the Supreme Court exercises required years of deliberation to perfect. In the early years of the Supreme Court, one man’s judgement influenced the powers of the court systems for yearsRead MoreThe Amistad Conflict Essay1401 Words   |  6 PagesMontauk Point, Long Island, in New York State. The United States federal government seized the ship and its African occupants -- who under U.S. law were property and therefore cargo of the ship. On August 29, 1839, the Amistad was towed into New London, Connecticut. The government charged the slaves with piracy and murder, and classified them as salvage property. The fifty-three Africans were sent to prison, pending hearing of their case before the U.S. Circuit Court in Hartford, Connecticut. The stageRead MoreFirst Amendment Paper1414 Words   |  6 Pagesthe United States of America. In this paper I will look at three provisions to the First Amendment, highlighting one case for each provision. Included ar e one case to discuss freedom of speech, one case to discuss separation of church and state and one case to discuss freedom of association. 1.) Discuss at least one Supreme Court case of significance related to three of the provisions of the First Amendment. Case number 1: Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971), this was a United States SupremeRead MoreThe Debate Over Same Sex Marriage979 Words   |  4 Pagesacross the united states, due to a decision the Supreme Court made; the decision made all state level bans on same-sex marriage were considered unconstitutional, thus overruling the bans. In the dissenting argument on the Supreme Court’s Decision to legalize same-sex couple marriage, Chief Justice Roberts makes a passionate argument revolving around the fact that it was the Supreme Court that made the decision and not the Country. Chief Justice Roberts shows his emotional look on the decision throughoutRead MoreTaking a Look at Writs of Habeas Corpus 1615 Words   |  7 Pagesgeo-political landscape, American courts were also given the unenviable task of determining if those captured by the U.S government were entitled to the rights and privileges enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court in particular faced a particular set of problems in confronting this issue. Precedent on the matter had been established over fifty years earlier under far different circumstances that were unable to reflect today’s modern challenges. Secondly, the Court needed to determine whetherRead MoreThe Supreme Court943 Words   |  4 PagesThe Supreme Court The purpose of the Supreme Court is to review or address cases that involve issues on a federal level or of constitutional law, just as appellate courts hear cases on a state level. Their responsibilities include deciding how to apply the principles of constitutional law to new matters and issues that arise in today’s day to day legal process; they also play the role of the â€Å"parent† to lower federal appellate courts when their decisions on legal issues are contradicting to one