Well-known US Supreme Court Cases: Civil Rights in the United States

Instructions:
2-2.5 pages, typed, double-spaced.
Using the parameters of the lesson about the two ways that the court can weigh in on cases brought before them for judicial review, look up and explain how a well-known US Supreme Court case used either one or the other of the approaches.
It was 54 years ago this week that in Selma, Alabama, African-American activists (with children in the group) marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge into the city to protest for and demand their civil rights. Among them was civil rights activist John Lewis, who has since gone on to become a US Congressman.
This week, what I wanted to discuss with you guys is the important role (or rather, questioning the place) of civil rights in America. The United States has long-prided itself on being a place that allows for a range of social mobility and social freedoms, as it’s a nation that built itself on the assumption that you have a right to fight back against oppressive forces to stand up for representation and rights. However, this is, of course, at odds with how American (and world) culture and society has viewed people of color, women, and other minorities within the population.
What exactly is “civil rights”? If we go by the definition of the textbook, we get “the rights of people to be treated without unreasonable or unconstitutional differences”. If we refer to the dictionary or the Internet, we get “the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality”. From these two definitions, we can build our own definition of civil rights being the absolute right to have the same rights opportunities as everyone else and not be held to different and unfair standards when it comes to reaching for those opportunities and rights. Now while the history of civil rights is something we could dedicate a whole class/semester to, what I want us to look at today is actually a general sense of what civil rights battles have been like in the US.
The history of civil rights in the US has been a...difficult one, and it is often a thing that people nowadays consider an ancient history. However, as this VERY abbreviated timeline of landmark cases below shows us, it is a thing that is still very much happening;
Scott V. Sanford (1857) - Establishing that Congress has no authority to ban slavery in US territories
Plessy V. Fergusun (1896) - Upholds “separate but equal” laws
Brown V. Board of Education (1954) - School segregation in the US is deemed to be illegal and unconstitutional
Green V. County School Board of New Kent County (1968)
Reed V. Reed (1971) - Gender discrimination violates the Constitution
Roe V. Wade (1973) - State laws prohibiting abortions are unconstitutional
Boy Scouts of America V. Dale (2000) - Private organizations may ban gay members
United States V. WIndsor (2013) - Gay couples married in US states where same-sex marriage is legal must receive full federal benefits of marriage
Obergefell V. Hodges (2015) - Same-sex couples have a constitutional right to get married in the US
The Dredd Scott case (Scott V. Sanford) tends to be considered the beginning of US legal challenges surrounding civil rights, and is part of the larger spectrum of court cases and civil disobedience movements that have centered around racial discrimination in the US. While it can be generally considered “over” with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, race-based discrimination, racially-themed violence, and racially-influenced policy, be it formal or informal, are unfortunately still aspects of American life, struggled with constantly.
Roe V. Wade is considered groundbreaking because it ushered an era of legalized abortion in the US. Prior to that, such procedures were illegal and often fatal for women who could even afford them, relying on unlicensed practitioners. However, rights to medical health and safety continue to be an issue for women in the US both on the legal and the social front.
US V. Windsor is considered the beginning of landmark cases in favor of gay rights in the US, though, like laws and rights related to women and people of color, it is a victory that continues to be challenged, again through both legal means and violence. Like the Scott case, Windsor at times has been seen as "THE victory" for gay rights in the US, though it's arguably not.
What are your thoughts about civil rights in the US? Do you consider it a slow but constant uphill, or a war with a series of highs and lows?