 March 1931 nine black youth got into a fight on a train with some white boys.  They were asked to leave the train.  After that two white girls accused them of raping them.  The boys were taken into custody and met with a violent mob.  They were sentenced to death.

 The Supreme Courts ruling was 7-2 in favor of Powell.

 It reversed all conjuctions because defendants did not receive a fair trial.  They were not appointed lawyers and had no opportunity to be heard, violating the Fourteenth Amendment.

 Gerald Gault was a 15 year old male who contacted his neighbor saying obscene statements to her.  Gault and his friend, Ronald Lewis who made the prank calls with him were arrested and taken to the Children’s Detention home.  Gault was on probation at this time.  The arresting officer did not leave a notice for Gault’s family and they found out about his arrest from the family of Ronald Lewis.  He had a hearing scheduled on June 9 th 1964 but no transcripts or recordings were made, the neighbor he prank called didn’t show up and no one was sworn in prior to testifying.

 Gault was released and had another hearing on the 15th.  At this hearing the probation officers filed the charge as lewd phone calls.  An adult charged with the same crime would’ve gotten a $50 fine and two months in jail.  Gault was committed to the Detention home until he turned 21, which was six years.  Gault’s parents filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, which was dismissed by both the Superior Court of Arizona and the Arizona Supreme Court.

 The Court’s ruling was 8-1 in favor of Gault.

The Supreme Court ruled that Gault’s commitment to the State Industrial School was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment since he had not been formally notified of the charges against him, had not been informed for his right against self incrimination, had been denied the write to an attorney, and had no opportunity to confront his accusers.

 In 1972, President Richard Nixon, a Republican, was running for reelection against Senator George McGovern, a Democrat.  Five months before the election, an alert security guard found burglars in the Democratic Party headquarters, which was located in Washington’s Watergate apartment complex.  Reporters that were following the story connected the burglars to high-ranking officials in the White House.  Nixon denied any connection to the break-in.  In an independent Congressional investigation it revealed that there was audiotapes of the President discussing the break-in with it’s organizers.  Nixon refused to hand over the tapes, claiming they were “executive privilege.”

 In July 1974 the Supreme Court decided unanimously that Nixon must hand over the tapes.

 The Court said that under the Constitution, the judiciary had the final voice, not the Executive Branch.  The Court declared that no President is above the law.  Because of these events Nixon handed over the tapes showing he did have a part in the burglary, when Congress started impeachment proceedings Nixon decided to resign from office rather than facing the impeachment hearings.

 George W. Bush, and Al Gore were running for the 2000 election as President.  The votes were counted, the race was very close.  Florida would be the deciding state in the election.  Bush was declared winner.  Suspicion of problems with ballots came into play.  Gore’s supporters sued the state of Florida for a recount.  Bush’s supporters sued to prevent it.  Florida’s election laws set a hard deadline.  Florida’s Supreme Court favored Gore.  Bush appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

 The Supreme Courts ruling was 5-4

 The Supreme Court of Florida had violated the U.S. Constitution  The Court violated the equal-protection guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment.