The Supreme Court is the highest in the land. It has nine members and decides whether laws are unconstitutional. It handles appeals from federal courts or state supreme courts. Learn more about how it works and some famous Justices.

Read the Supreme Court opinion that solidified the concept of separate, but equal in American law. The dissenting opinion written by Justice John Harlan is also included.

Use this site to learn all about this Supreme Court decision that dealt with interstate commerce. View an image of the original document and read the complete text.

This site details the controversial issues regarding slavery and the effects they had on the Civil War amendments as well as on the fifth amendment. The site discusses events such as the Dred Scott case, the addition of the Civil War...

A brief overview of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Includes a link to the full text of the amendment. Discusses equal protection.

Read the judgment of Supreme Court justice, Henry Billings Brown, who wrote for the majority in the Plessy v Ferguson decision that codified the idea of "separate but equal" in the American justice system until it was overturned by Brown...

Lesson teaches the judicial philosophies of activism and restraint and also explores criteria through which students can evaluate news-related opinion pieces and practice judging the value of a Supreme Court-related opinion piece of choice.

The complete text of the 85 Federalist Papers which explained why the authors believed the new Constitution should be ratified.

Learn how Jim Crow laws impacted home ownership and the pursuit of the American Dream in this series of videos from the American Masters film, Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart. Lorraine Hansberry's family was at the...

Transcript of the landmark court case that established the constitutional principle of judicial review. Judicial review is the concept that the federal judiciary has final power as to whether an act of the Congress or the Executive...

Provides a summary and full text of Article 6 of the Constitution. It establishes it as the supreme law of the United States and that public officials must take an oath to support it. It also authorizes the national debt, meaning that...

Annotations to Article III on the characteristics and attributes of judicial power as related to specific Supreme Court decisions. The author distinguishes between judicial power and jurisdiction.

Read the words in the U.S. Constitution, Article VI, concerning the oath of office. Link to a Supreme Court case which tested the interpretation of this article, McCullock v. Maryland, to view the decisions of the Justices.

This definition page at 'Lectric Library discusses the definition in the context of significant Supreme Court cases.

This site from the Cornell University School of Law provides a brief description of what happened during the Amistad Revolt and gives details concerning the Supreme Court that followed.

This resource contains the full text of the 1803 Supreme court case, Marbury v. Madison opinion.

This web page, which is provided for by the Cornell University Law School, explains the process of getting married and its origin.

The full text of the Supreme Court opinion, delivered by Mr. Justice Fortas, which reversed the judgement in the 1967 Arizona case against 15-year old Gerald Gault.

This history of the American Constitution discusses how the Constitution served as a basis for inspiring and regulating laws made across the nation.

This resource shows the relationship between the Federal and State Courts as stated in Article III of the U.S. Constitution. This annotated text details issues like problems raised by concurrency, autonomy of state courts, and rules of...

This historical summary covers information on slaves during the mid-19th century in the following areas: Who were Slaves?, Rights and Powers of Ownership, Transfers of Slaves, Hiring of Slaves, Fugitive Slaves, Regulation of Slaves,...

This unit provides a comprehensive look into the value of the U.S. court system as a means to maintain the safety of American citizens. Offers video, readings, web resources, and activities.

This article uses specific court cases to show how the right to counsel at trial was developed into the present day standard.

Extensive information about Samuel Alito, his background, opinions in cases, background documents, and other resources.