Preview

Fact Pattern

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1474 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Fact Pattern
Final Essay
Fact Pattern Throughout the over-the-top case of Professor Frieda Speak and President Smacksem, several legal issues were persistent in the lawsuit. However, Professor Speak attempted to bring a lawsuit on several issues where President Smacksem has done no wrong. These issues pertain to his Easter display, his prayer breakfast, and several aspects of the bill that he promoted with Senator Tellinemwhatodo. The first issue that Professor Speak had was with the display that President Smacksem erected on the Union lawn. The display featured a 10 feet tall Easter basket with eggs, a 50 feet tall crucifix of Jesus, a 5 foot pagan earth symbol and a generic sign stating “Salute Life, Celebrate Spring, Go U.S.A. Rock it Mean Green”.
…show more content…
Speak had issue with is the optional weekly breakfast that President Smacksem would put on for the faculty. The majority of this action is protected by the Constitution. One of the larger issues that Dr. Speak had with this is that the breakfast ends with a Judeo-Christian prayer. Yet the Supreme Court Case of Marsh v. Chambers (1983) is approving of prayer at the end of a state meeting, just as Congress has approved this action. This is not seen as a religious act, but an acknowledgment of beliefs. In addition to Marsh, Greece v. Galloway (2014) helps President Smacksem’s case because Greece ruled that it is unconstitutional to force someone to say a prayer of another religion. Because of that, Dr. Speak cannot press charges on the fact that she asked, and denied, that President Smacksem say a Native American prayer. This does present one of the issues associated with freedom of religion: that you cannot deny someone from practicing something, you cannot favor one religion over another, yet you cannot force someone to acknowledge or say a prayer if they do not want to. If she had an issue with the meeting being held in general, her argument would also fall flat due to the ruling in Board of Education v. Mergens (1990) that ruled that if a school denied a religious program then they would have to deny all programs, and vice versa. Since there is no indication that President Smacksem is denying other religious meetings from being held than we must …show more content…
Section 2 Part (e-f) would currently pass by the Supreme Court without issue. This part is dealing with providing of information about abortion or birth control at University Health Centers. The Rust v. Sullivan (1991) decision deals with a similar scenario where President Bush presents an executive order where no funding will be sent to Doctors that inform patients about abortion. According to the Court, this does not remove the option to get an abortion or birth control, it just removes the Doctor from giving information about it, similar to a teacher not being able to give information to students on religion. Now, because part (f) does deny the University Health Centers from disseminating birth control, this portion could run into a bit of trouble because it does limit where one could get their birth control from. However, President Smacksem and Senator Tellinemwhattodo may receive some help from the decision in Webster v. Reproductive Health Service (1989). That Court ruled that the Due Process clause does not automatically result in government aid being a right. In this current lawsuit, part (f) does not restrict the University Health Center from providing birth control, it is only removing the government aid to provide that birth control, meaning that the state has the authority to remove funding as long as they do not restrict the actual

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Corporations are now also to be treated like “people” and have the same rights as a single person would have. If the court had chosen an alternative rule, corporations would still be required to provide insurance coverage for contraception. I do not agree with the decision, I feel that although it may interfere with a corporation’s religious beliefs, a woman’s decision about her health and lifestyle is ultimately her decision and her rights should not be taken away because of the owner’s beliefs. Due to this ruling, I believe that companies will now use the excuse of religious beliefs as reasons to not provide full coverage to their employees and will use it as a way to avoid fines and providing the right…

    • 1266 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Landmark case law

    • 1824 Words
    • 5 Pages

    U.S. 261 (1990) was a United States Supreme Court case argued on December 6, 1989 and decided on June 25, 1990. In a 5-4 court decision, the court found in favor of the Missouri Dept. of Health. The court affirmed the ruling of the Supreme Court of Missouri. However, it upheld the legal standard that competent persons are able to exercise the right to refuse medical treatment under the Due Process Clause and its implied right to privacy. Because there was no “clear and convincing evidence” of what Nancy Cruzan wanted, the court upheld the state’s policy.…

    • 1824 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Most of those on the side of Whole Woman’s Health were groups in favor of pro-choice and those in the legal field. One amicus brief was filed by 163 members of Congress. They discuss how this House Bill 2 is a violation of the Constitution and therefore should be struck down. In the brief, it says, “The lack of credible evidence that such requirements serve any governmental interest and the undue burden imposed on women seeking to exercise their constitutional rights, including increases in costs, delays and health risks to women, demonstrates H.B. 2’s pretextual nature. Amici are also deeply mindful of the importance of protecting women’s health care access and constitutional rights, while ensuring against the unnecessary political interference with a woman’s right to seek lawful medical care.…

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The education of the nation’s youth has always been a contentious issue. One of the largest issues facing the education system is the integration of sectarian religions such as prayers into the classroom and other extensions of the education system. In the mid to late 1900s, several court cases went before the Supreme Court involving various aspects of state sponsored prayers. The two major cases involving prayers in schools were Engel v. Vitale and Abington v. Schempp. Within these two cases, the Court successfully and diligently balanced the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause and paved the way for the Lemon Test and Endorsement Test.…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Charmander if a reasonable accommodation could be made. I would argue that there is indeed a secular purpose for reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. While her own personal views of the advancement of religion is a valid concern, I would see if there other ways around the situation. Would she be willing to have her class listen to the pledge via loudspeaker? Would she allow an individual student to lead the Pledge of Allegiance? I would also inform her that the school would have the right to provide a learning environment without disruption. I would then also inform her that school has the right to set its own curriculum. The children have the religious freedom to practice their own rights to expression as long as it is not disruptive. If she was unwilling to budge on anything I would say that the school has the right to fire her for not fulfilling her duties to teach the curriculum. As this is pointed out in my research on the Seventh District Courts decision. I would also say there doesn’t seem to a Supreme Court decision coming anytime soon that would serve as an all-encompassing Federal…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Engel Vs Vitale Case Study

    • 1310 Words
    • 6 Pages

    B. In the case of Engel v. Vitale, the Board of Regents for the State of New York approved a short, voluntary prayer to be recited at the start of school each day. A group of parents whose children attended the School District disagreed with this religious practice and argued that the reading of a nondenominational prayer at the start of the school day violates the "establishment of religion" clause…

    • 1310 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story behind the need for such shows that there has been opposition to this legislation, even on the federal level. Three years after the amendment came into effect, it was challenged. A Federal District Court judge, John F. Dooling, claimed that it violated both the first and fifth amendment rights of less fortunate women, and he demanded that funding be resumed. Other intellectuals have noted and argued that the amendment is unconstitutional, some referencing the Roe v. Wade decision in their stances, saying that the decision in the Roe case deems the amendment unconstitutional, although this has been refuted. The Supreme Court had the final say in the end, but these cases go to show that the amendment has been questioned and has faced opposition in its…

    • 1109 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Under the Act the hospital is allowed to deny treatment to patients if it goes against the hospitals religious belief. The appellee may also argue that they are protected under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, that prohibits any agency department, or official of the United States or any State from substantially burdening a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability. In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, 573 US__(2014), the Court held that corporations are protected under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The Court also concluded that providing contraceptives forces religious corporations to fund what they consider abortion, which goes against their stated religious principles, and creates a substantial burden that is not the least restrictive method of satisfying the government’s…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Roe V. Wade Essay Example

    • 2324 Words
    • 10 Pages

    "The Court today is correct in holding that the right asserted by Jane Roe is embraced within the personal liberty protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. It is evident that the Texas abortion statute infringes that right directly. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a more complete abridgment of a constitutional freedom than that worked by the inflexible criminal statute now in force in Texas. The question then becomes whether the state interests advanced to justify this abridgment can survive the 'particularly careful scrutiny' that the Fourteenth Amendment here requires. The asserted state interests are protection of the health and safety of the pregnant woman, and protection of the potential future human life within her. But such legislation is not before us, and I think the Court today has thoroughly demonstrated that these state interests cannot constitutionally support the broad abridgment of personal liberty worked by the existing Texas law. Accordingly, I join the Court's opinion holding that that law is invalid under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment."…

    • 2324 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    declared the Texas abortion law to the unconstitutional for two reasons: First, that the law was…

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The justices acted in accordance with the constitution because the contraceptive coverage was going against the Church’s religious…

    • 1106 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Roe V. Wade Summary

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Supreme Court case I have discussed above of 1973 is one I believe may be overturned in the future. Although it has relevance to the ninth amendment as I have previous stated, there are a lot of people today that seem to disagree with the court’s decision. After reading this case brief I still hold my opinion of being, “pro-choice.” Having not made abortion completely illegal, while setting restrictions on it, was a smart thing to do, taken into effect the setting of this case. The Supreme Court not only compared its decision to the ninth amendment but also to the case related to it from Georgia. The decision of the case I have discussed held to be an appropriate one setting limitations on abortion will still allowing it for under the stipulations…

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    During twentieth century, the Supreme Court received a case that questioned the Connecticut birth control laws and its obligations. The Director of Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut and their medical director were convicted under the Connecticut law after they had given advice to a married couple on the use of contraceptives. Griswold who was the Director of Planned Parenthood took the case to the Supreme Court, to question the statute of Connecticut. It was then that the Supreme Court had ruled that the “right of privacy” was protected as a penumbra under the Bill of Rights.10 In 1965, the Connecticut law was ruled as a violation to the Constitution.…

    • 2000 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The partial birth abortion ban act was signed by President Bush in 2003 and later deemed unconstitutional based on Roe v. Wade but it was eventually upheld by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision. This was the first federal ban on any abortion procedure in 30 years since Roe v. Wade and the only ban of surgical technique in the United States in history. Roe v. Wade was a Supreme Court case which resulted in a landmark decision regarding abortion. According to the Roe v. Wade case, laws against abortion violated a constitutional right to privacy under the Due process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The decision overturned any laws outlawing or restricting abortions. The reason why the Supreme Court was able to uphold the decision in 2003 was because Roe v. wade specifically refers to abortions in which the fetus is not yet viable, which means that it cannot live outside the womb. Because Intact dilation and evacuation is usually performed later in the pregnancy it is not protected under because viability is considered anywhere after the 24th week of gestation. The biggest problem with the Partial Birth Abortion Act is that it is very unclear as to what the politicians are referring to. Technically this is not the appropriate name of the procedure and although the Supreme Court states that “Partial Birth Abortion “ and “Intact dilation and extraction” are the same thing, there are cases where the two terms do not coincide. Partial Birth Abortions refer to a live fetus and ID&E could be used when the fetus is dead. Also, this ban doesn’t state any specifics and makes it possible for some doctors to be able to cut through the neck and remove the fetus in pieces which doesn’t fall into the Supreme Courts definition because the…

    • 1479 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit on April 2, 2014, on behalf of five Texas clinics and three physicians and their patients, challenging the ASC and admitting privileges requirements. The abortion providers represented by the Center are challenging these laws because the regulatory burdens they impose will dramatically reduce the number and geographic distribution of medical facilities in the State where women can access safe abortion, while providing no benefit to abortion patients whatsoever. The restrictions create barriers to safe and legal abortion that unduly burden women's right to access abortion services, in violation of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The admitting privileges requirement has been in effect…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays