SC - Supreme Court Decisions Lesson

20 ROE v. WADE (1973). Norma McCorvey (or Jane Roe), a woman prevented from having an abortion by a Texas law, sued to have the law overturned. Henry Wade, a Dallas district attorney, pushed the case up to the Supreme Court. Texas claimed that the case should be dismissed as moot, since the plaintiff had already had her baby. In a controversial decision the Court ruled in McCorvey’s favor, establishing the right of women to have abortions during the early months of pregnancy.

Supreme Court Decisions

The Supreme Court ruled on many cases that would change the perception of civil liberties and civil rights in America. Two controversial cases with the greatest impact were Roe v. Wade and Regents of University of California v. Bakke (also known as the Bakke decision).

Roe v. Wade: 1973

Addressed the right of women to choose whether to have an abortion under certain circumstances. This was based on an interpretation of the 4th amendment of a right of privacy to include abortion.

Regents University of California v. Bakke: 1978

Ruled race can be used when considering applicants to colleges, but racial quotas cannot be used. The Court barred the use of quota systems in college admissions, but expanded Americans civil rights by giving constitutional protection to affirmative action programs that give equal access to minorities.

President Nixon and President Ford Administrations

80 “I am not a crook.” (President Richard M. Nixon, 1974.)Richard Nixon's presidency was one of great successes and criminal scandals. Nixon's visit to China in 1972 was one of the successes. He visited to seek scientific, cultural, and trade agreements and to take advantage of a 10-year standoff between China and the Soviet Union. Nixon hoped to win the Chinese to his side in case he had future negotiations with the Soviets. Later, Nixon was part of the Watergate scandal, which centered on his administration's attempt to cover up a burglary of the offices of the Democratic Party in the Watergate apartment and office complex in Washington, D.C. The crime was committed by Nixon's reelection campaign team, who sought political information. Nixon won reelection in 1972, but his efforts to cover up the crime soon unraveled and, facing impeachment, he resigned in 1974. The scandal left Americans dismayed by Nixon's actions and cynical about politics in general. It also led to changes in campaign financing and to laws requiring high-level government officials to disclose their finances. Because Nixon and many of the people involved in Watergate were lawyers, the reputation of the legal profession suffered too.

Nixon was succeeded by his vice president, Gerald Ford, whose two-year presidency was damaged by his connection to Nixon. It was damaged again when he pardoned Nixon for any crimes he may have committed. One bright spot is that the Vietnam War ended during the Ford administration by following a path established by Nixon, but Ford's domestic policies failed to stop growing inflation and unemployment and America experienced its worst economic recession since the Great Depression.

 

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