U.S. Supreme Court

The United States Supreme Court interprets the laws-their rulings standing until the Constitution is amended or reinterpreted by a later Court. The author tells the story of six cases considered by many to be among the Court's most significant ones. These descriptions are simple stories about complex cases brought before the Court.From Marbury v. Madison (1803) to United States v. Nixon (1974), readers learn that the United States Supreme Court has the authority to rule a law unconstitutional; segregation, in itself, was not originally considered to constitute unlawful discrimination; segregation in public education based solely on race violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; prayer and Bible reading as part of the public school day violate the religious freedom of students as provided by the First and Fourteenth Amendments; and a President may not withhold information by using executive privilege as a means to avoid judicial review.