Civil Rights: THE COURT'S MAJOR DECISIONS

• Share

>Brown v. Board of Education (1954) outlawed public school segregation.

>Brown v. Board of Education (1955), elaborating on the earlier decision, ordered school authorities to desegregate with "all deliberate speed."

> Heart of Atlanta Motel v. U.S. (1964) upheld the public-accommodations section of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, guaranteeing Negroes access to hotels, motels and restaurants.

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

> Mallory v. U.S. (1957) required there be prompt arraignment of a criminal suspect.

> Mapp v. Ohio (1961) held that evidence obtained by illegal searches and seizures cannot be introduced into a state court.

> Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) ruled that the state must provide free counsel for defendants who cannot afford a lawyer.

> Escobedo v. Illinois (1964) said that a defendant has a right to have his lawyer with him when he is being questioned.

> Miranda v. Arizona (1966) said that a defendant must be given a "fourfold warning" before he is questioned: 1) that he may remain silent, 2) that anything he says may be used against him, 3) that he may have a lawyer present, and 4) that, if indigent, he may have a lawyer without charge.

APPORTIONMENT

> Baker v. Carr (1962) warned legislatures that the court would intervene to remedy legislative malapportionment if state lawmakers did not act of their own volition.

> Reynolds v. Sims (1964) followed through on that warning, ruling that both houses of state legislatures must be apportioned on the basis of population alone.

> Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) declared that each U.S. congressional district must have approximately the same population as every other.

OTHERS

> Engel v. Vitale (1962) ruled unconstitutional the daily recitation of prescribed prayer in public schools.

> New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964) vastly extended freedom of the press, holding that a public official could not collect on a defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he could prove that it was made recklessly or in malice.