May It Please the Court: Courts, Kids, and the Constitution

by Peter H. Irons (Editor)

Overview

Until The New Press first published May It Please the Court in 1993, few Americans knew that every case argued before the Supreme Court since 1955 had been recorded. The original book-and-tape set was a revelation to readers and reviewers, quickly becoming a bestseller and garnering praise across the nation.

May It Please the Court includes both live recordings and transcripts of oral arguments in twenty-three of the most significant cases argued before the Supreme Court in the second half of the twentiethcentury. This edition makes the recordings available on an MP3 audio CD. Through the voices of some of the nation's most important lawyers and justices, including Thurgood Marshall, Archibald Cox, and Earl Warren, it offers a chance to hear firsthand our justice system at work, in the highest court of the land.

Cases included: Gideon v. Wainwright (right to counsel) Abington School District v. Schempp (school prayer) Miranda v. Arizona ("the right to remain silent") Roe v. Wade (abortion rights) Edwards v. Aguillard (teaching "creationism") Regents v. Bakke (reverse discrimination) Wisconsin v. Yoder (compulsory schooling for the Amish) Tinker v. Des Moines (Vietnam protest in schools) Texas v. Johnson (flag burning) New York Times v. United States (Pentagon Papers) Cox v. Louisiana (civil rights demonstrations) Communist Party v. Subversive Activities Control Board (freedom of association) Terry v. Ohio ("stop and frisk" by police) Gregg v. Georgia (capital punishment) Cooper v. Aaron (Little Rock school desegregation) Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (public accommodations) Palmer v. Thompson (swimming pool integration) Loving v. Virginia (interracial marriage) San Antonio v. Rodriguez (equal funding for public schools) Bowers v. Hardwick (homosexual rights) Baker v. Carr ("one person, one vote") United States v. Nixon (Watergate tapes) DeShaney v. Winnebago County (child abuse)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781565846135
Publisher:	New Press, The
Publication date:	09/01/2000
Series:	May It Please the Court
Pages:	348
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.60(h) x 2.14(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Peter H. Irons is emeritus professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of numerous books on the Supreme Court and constitutional litigation, including Jim Crow's Children: The Broken Promise of the Brown Decision and A People's History of the Supreme Court. He is a co-editor of May It Please the Court: The Most Significant Oral Arguments Made Before the Supreme Court Since 1955 (with Stephanie Guitton), May It Please the Court: The First Amendment: Live Recordings and Transcripts of the Oral Arguments Made Before the Supreme Court in Sixteen Key First Amendment Cases, and May It Please the Court: Courts, Kids, and the Constitution: Live Recordings and Transcripts of Sixteen Supreme Court Oral Arguments on the Constitutional Rights of Students and Teachers, all published by The New Press. He has also contributed to numerous law reviews and other journals. He was chosen in 1988 as the first Raoul Wallenberg Distinguished Visiting Professor of Human Rights at Rutgers University. He has been invited to lecture on constitutional law and civil liberties at the law schools of Harvard, Yale, Berkeley, and Stanford and at more than twenty other schools. In addition to his academic work, Irons has been active in public affairs. He is a practicing civil rights and liberties attorney and was lead counsel in the 1980s in the successful effort to reverse the World War II criminal convictions of Japanese Americans who had challenged the curfew and relocation orders. He was also elected to two terms on the national board of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Stephanie Guitton is a graduate of the Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program at the University of California, Berkeley. She has a law degree from the University of Poitiers in France.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	ix
	Bible reading and the lord's prayer in schools
	School District of Abington Township v. Schempp (1963)	1
	Transcript	3
	Opinion	10
	Wearing black armbands to protest Vietnam war
	Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969)	21
	Transcript	23
	Opinion	33
	Mandatory maternity leave for pregnant teachers
	Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur (1974)	43
	Transcript	45
	Opinion	53
	Busing across district lines for racial balance
	Milliken, Governor of Michigan v. Bradley (1974)	61
	Transcript	63
	Opinion	71
	Due process hearings for suspended students
	Goss, Superintendent of Schools v. Lopez (1975)	81
	Transcript	83
	Opinion	91
	"Cruel and unusual punishment" and paddling students
	Ingraham v. Wright, School Principal (1977)	101
	Transcript	103
	Opinion	112
	Barring "illegal alien" children from schools
	Plyler, Superintendent of Schools v. Doe (1982)	123
	Transcript	125
	Opinion	133
	Removing "objectionable" books from school library
	Board of Education, Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982)	145
	Transcript	147
	Opinion	157
	Power of school officials to search student belongings
	New Jersey v. T.L. O. (1985)	169
	Transcript	171
	Opinion	180
	Punishing "vulgar" speech at school assembly
	Bethel School District v. Fraser (1986)	191
	Transcript	193
	Opinion	202
	"Equal time" for evolution and creationism in schools
	Edwards, Governor of Louisiana v. Aguillard (1987)	211
	Transcript	213
	Opinion	223
	Censoring high school newspapers
	Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)	233
	Transcript	235
	Opinion	245
	Equal access for religious clubs in school facilities
	Board of Education, Westside Schools v. Mergens (1990)	257
	Transcript	259
	Opinion	268
	Prayers at school commencement ceremony
	Lee, School Principal v. Weisman (1992)	281
	Transcript	283
	Opinion	293
	Sign-language interpreter in religious school
	Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District (1993)	307
	Transcript	309
	Opinion	317
	Mandatory drug testing for student athletes
	Vernonia School District v. Acton (1995)	327
	Transcript	329
	Opinion	338

Editorial Reviews

"One of the most effective teaching tools available." —The Washington Post

"A front-row seat in America's most powerful courtroom, where very, very few have had the opportunity to sit." —American Bar Association Journal

"A treasure trove . . . that provides insight into the Supreme Court and the judicial process that is otherwise available only to those who find themselves in Washington, D.C., at just the right time." —Los Angeles Times Book Review

"A strong and direct whiff of history." —The New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

A sequel to the original book and tape set, May It Please the Court focuses on Supreme Court cases involving students' and teachers' constitutional rights. In many towns and cities, public schools become the arena in which conflicts that begin in homes, churches, and meeting halls are fought. Issues involving prayer, newspaper and library censorship, political protest, drug testing, illegal aliens, and corporal punishment spill into classrooms and result in lawsuits. This new set of landmark "school rights" cases features narrated tape recordings of 16 actual oral arguments made before the Supreme Court, together with a book of transcripts and excerpts from the Supreme Court's rulings. Featuring nationally known figures, including attorney Kenneth Starr and Justices Thurgood Marshall and Earl Warren, May It Please the Court offers an unrivaled view of the Supreme Court in action and an unparalleled opportunity to explore some of the most explosive constitutional debates of our time.

bn.com

In 1993, political science professor Irons (UC San Diego) launched May It Please the Court, a series of sets of audiocassettes and transcripts of seminal Supreme Court sessions (the Court started taping its sessions in 1955 but until the first volume of May It Please the Court had restricted access to the tapes). This fourth installment features oral arguments in 16 cases implicating the constitutional rights of students and teachers in middle and high schools. The cases range widely from topics like busing and school prayer to drug testing, newspaper censorship and corporal punishment. Some of these cases set important legal precedents, such as Goss v. Lopez, which determined the due process rights of students facing suspension. Other cases present tricky factual issues that leave the law uncertain, such as New Jersey v. T.L.O., which addressed how far a principal may go in searching a student's purse. But students and general readers will have no trouble following even the knottiest arguments, thanks to Irons's plainspoken narration, crisp editing and occasional forthright asides. Both tapes and text include excerpts from oral arguments made before the Court, questions by the justices and majority and dissenting opinions. Readers and listeners will be enlightened, and entertained as well, as sparks fly between passionate, sometimes tongue-tied lawyers and the testy justices grilling them from the bench. (Two justices stand out--Thurgood Marshall, for his pointed and witty exchanges, and Antonin Scalia, who interrupts both lawyers and fellow justices with caustic rhetoric). Irons occasionally fails to identify which justice is speaking, attributing his or her question merely to the "Court," but this one flaw does not detract significantly from a valuable, even noble project. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In the last 40 years, students' rights have been a major source of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including issues of prayer in the public schools, busing across district lines to achieve racial balance, and mandatory drug testing for student athletes. In this fourth installment in the "May It Please the Court" series, political scientist Irons (director, Earl Warren Bill of Rights Project, Univ. of California, San Diego) has edited and narrated a combination of live recordings and transcripts of 16 U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments. The book-and-tape package (there are four 90-minute cassettes) concern the constitutional rights of students and teachers, providing innovative material for high school and college classes. There is, moreover, an edited Supreme Court opinion from each of these landmark "school rights" cases. Irons's edited transcripts give equal weight to opposing lawyers' central arguments. The book and tapes give public and academic libraries an excellent way to inform readers about constitutional principles and decisions. Recommended for public and academic libraries.--Steven Puro, St. Louis Univ. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Library Journal

This package comprises cassettes with narrated records of actual oral arguments made before the Supreme Court, along with a book of transcripts identifying the speakers and putting the cases in context. Featuring nationally known figures, including attorney Kenneth Starr and Justices Thurgood Marshal and Earl Warren, it offers a close-up view of the Supreme Court and an opportunity to explore some of the most explosive constitutional debates of our time. Edited by Peter Irons (political science, U. of California, San Diego. Distributed by W.W. Norton. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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