This Supreme Court case concerns the concept of affirmative action. This site provides a brief description of the court case, contains a link to an audio file, and lists the justices who presided and how they voted.

A map of the United States in 1860 showing the states and territory boundaries at the time, and is color-coded to show the slave States and distribution of slaves, the free states, and the territories, all open to slavery under the...

Students will analyze specified passages from the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Libellants of Schooner Amistad to explore the concept of jurisdiction and how a case travels through the federal court system.

This site provides a complete text of the 1857 Supreme Court decision in the case between Dred Scott and John F.A Sandford.

The formation of the Second Bank of the United States and its actions were a prelude to the very important Supreme Court decision, McCulloch v. Maryland. Read about the issues that were debated and the unanimous decision handed down by...

This article provides an easily understandable description of the 1967 U.S Supreme Court case involving Gerald Gault.

Discusses the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, an action that resulted from Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066. The constitutionality of the order was challenged all the way to the Supreme Court by Fred...

Contains a biography of William Howard Taft including a black and white photo and information about his political career as President of the United States and later as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

A new look at the Gregg v. Georgia ruling by the Supreme Court that reinstated the death penalty in the United States. Has it lived up to its original purpose? Here's Amnesty International's viewpoint.

The anti-trust case against Standard Oil, based on the Sherman Antitrust Act, pitted the federal government against the largest corporation in the United States. Read the trial preparation information including the arguments of the...

This interactive lesson can be used to introduce or to review the three branches of the United States government: legislative, executive, and judicial.

A collection of primary source materials that reflect the Jim Crow laws in the United States. Includes analysis tools and teacher guides.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features John Marshall Harlan, an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1877 until his death and one of the most forceful dissenters in the history of that tribunal. His best...

This website, a unit introducing the law and legal system, is organized into six chapters where you can learn about laws, lawmaking, citizen advocacy, dispute settlements, the court system, and lawyers.

The preamble is the introduction to the Constitution. It outlines the general goals of the framers: to create a just government and to ensure peace, adequate national defense, and a healthy, free nation. With its first three words, "We...

Fox News analyzes the Gratz and Grutter cases and what it means for affirmative action in this June, 2003, report.

Here's a biography of civil rights activist, Fred Korematsu, who protested his arrest and conviction in 1942 for his refusal to report to an internment camp for Japanese Americans. Find about his lifelong fight to clear his name and for...

This book takes an in-depth look at the Constitution, annotated with detailed explanations of its terms and contents. Included are texts of primary source materials, sidebar material on each article and amendment, profiles of Supreme...

The New York Times Learning Network has an interactive & printable crossword puzzle on The American Judicial System.

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

Frequently asked questions about the federal judiciary, including judges, the court system, filing a case, jurors, the judicial conference, and employment opportunities.

A complete transcript outlining the court case between Janet Reno, U.S. Attorney General, and the American Civil Liberties Union, in which the Communications Decency Act was declared unconstitutional.

A brief biography introducing the life of civil rights activist Thurgood Marshall. Marshall served on the United States Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court ruling in this landmark case declared that states could not tax federal institutions.