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Marvin Miller was convicted of violating California’s criminal obscenity law when he sent unsolicited mailings advertising the availability of some dirty books and a movie. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, upheld his conviction. This is one of several cases from this era where the Court struggled to define the limits of free speech under the First Amendment.

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Birthright citizenship and the 14th Amendment have been in the news recently. President Trump does not believe birthright citizenship is required by the 14th Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court discussed the issue in some detail in an 1898 case, U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark.

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This case, otherwise known as the Peaches’ House Party Case, deals with probable cause and qualified immunity of police officers. Justice Thomas wrote the opinion for a unanimous court overturning judgments of almost $1,000,000 awarded to partygoers for what the lower court found to be their unlawful arrest. Turns out, the plaintiffs had entered an unoccupied house and, well, had a party. When neighbors complained and the police showed up, some of the partygoers were arrested. 

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Impeachment has been in the news lately. In a 9-0 decision from 1993, Nixon v. U.S., the United States Supreme Court made it clear that impeachment by the House of Representatives and trial by the Senate are purely political processes. There is no judicial review of either process.

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In the 2018 case, Janus v. AFSCME, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned one of its earlier decisions, the 1977 case, Abood v. Detroit Board of Ed. The 1977 Abood decision held that unions could deduct “agency fees” from union non-members without their consent. The Court in Janus, in a 5-4 decision, ended that practice as an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment. 

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