Assignment Task:
In Part I this week, choose a Federal Supreme Court case that originated in Illinois that involves civil rights or civil liberties that was heard by the United States Supreme Court, and a decision was rendered. If Illinois does not have a case that was decided by the United States Supreme Court, choose a civil rights case from another state for which the United States Supreme Court issued a decision.
Here is a brief description of civil rights and civil liberties: Civil rights refers to equal social opportunities under the law. It gives you these freedoms, such as the right to vote, the right to public education, or a fair trial, among other things, regardless of your wealth or race. Civil liberties mean freedom of religion, equal treatment and due process under the law, and the right to privacy.
You should be able to go online and look up your state and famous cases decided by the Supreme Court. For example, Brown v Board of Education (1951) started in Topeka, Kansas, and ended up in the Supreme Court of the United States. Another example would be Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley v Steve Sisolak, Governor of Nevada (2020), which started in Nevada and ended up in the United States Supreme Court. A good source of information about cases decided by the United States Supreme Court.
Some other examples of cases include Lau v Nichols, Tinker v Des MoinesIndependent Community School District, Terry v Ohio, Regents of California v Bakke, Schenck v United States, Plessy v Ferguson, Shelley v Kraemer, Texas v Johnson, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v Texas, Korematsu v United States, Obergefell v Hodges, Laird v Tatum and Loving v Virginia.
Other sources can be researched online using search terms for "civil rights cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court." Be sure to use a case actually decided by the United States Supreme Court, and not a case decided by your state's supreme court or a different court.
A case that is still pending before the United States Supreme Court should not be used.