Critically Acclaimed Supreme Court Cases - Essay Example

 Critically Acclaimed Supreme Court Cases Engel V Vitale This is one of the most critical cases in which the Supreme Court made it clear that voluntary prayer conducted in institutions is against the First Amendment rights. The case can relate back to 1951 in which the New York State Board passed a legislature which would require students to recite a prayer before school. The ideology was to promote spiritually amongst students. However, ten students rejected to follow this tradition and filed a law suit.

The question remained; did the school snatch the right to have religious liberty from students by enforcing public prayer? Engel parents definitely believed so as they argued that there should be separation of state and church based on the first amendment. The State of New York believed that it did not establish a religion, but rather initiated a tradition that is a valuable aspect to the nation’s history. The Court ruled that implementing a prayer is unconstitutional and that to propagate a prayer in school in against the establishment clause.

Hence, public prayer does not take place even up to this day due to this case.Miranda vs. ArizonaAnother critical Supreme Court Case that supported the claim of due process of law, which is associated with the fourteenth amendment. Ernesto Mirando was convicted of kidnapping and rape assaults. Miranda was then interrogated and confessed to these charges. However, Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, ruled that the state officials cannot use these statements unless they tell the felon of his rights since Miranda signed a disclaimer that basically ignored his rights.

The police must address the criminal of his rights such as “you have the right to remain silent.” For Miranda, his 5th and his 6th Amendments were both clearly violated. The police argued however that he signed the disclaimer without any unnecessary pressure. These Miranda rights were no doubt controversial but became a strong foundation for following a certain protocol. In essence, the person in custody must be addressed of his “Miranda rights.” Any violation of this protocol often leads to civil liberty group uprisings.

Any people convicted of crime still possess their basic rights and are “innocent until proven guilty.”TLO vs. NJOne of the most critically acclaimed Supreme Court cases, that supported the rights of citizens against unwarranted searches, a right given to citizens by the 14th Amendment. This issue initiated as a New Jersey student was found smoking in the bathroom. When caught, the student refrained from confessing and then her locker was unlawfully searched and arrested by the principle. Yet, the student’s 4th Amendment rights were exploited.

The question remained, do students have the same 4th Amendment rights as other citizens? Does the school, a government institute has to follow the idea of “reasonable and probable cause”? The school administrators insisted that the students violated the school code and have extensive power to discipline the conduct of any student who breaches the code. The defense side of T.L.O argued that administrators cannot act as parents and are employees. Hence, they cannot breach the privacy and must respect students’ rights.

In a heated debate, the court favored the student by stating that schools must be obligated to follow the 4th amendment and are limited by the constitution. Yet, the rights of young students are not the same as adults. The school can initiate searches but must have solid evidence to rationalize their cause. This is critical as many students are not susceptible to random locker checks as it would violate their rights. It protects the students of their privacy, but at the same time gives them some leeway to engage in illegal activity.

Works Cited"Engel v. Vitale." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 22 Dec. 2010 .