Roevwade and Mirandavarizona

Throughout American history the Supreme Court has dealt with many controversial issues regarding the rights of citizens. The decisions made by the Supreme Court have both expanded and protected the rights of the American people. Roe v. Wade and Miranda v. Arizona are two cases that demonstrate how the Supreme Court has affected Americans and our society.

Since the Women’s Suffragette movement in the late 1800s women have been fighting for equal rights in the United States. Although the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote, their rights were still limited. When the country was faced with World War II, women were provided with greater opportunities, becoming an integral part of the work force. However, men reclaimed their jobs after the war ended, and women were back to domestic work. By the 1960s women were tired of being inferior to men and facing discrimination because of their gender. The publishing of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, which questioned the traditional role of women in society; and efforts of the National Organization for Women gave women the encouragement to fight for equal civil rights. But, one of the most important goals for the women’s rights activists at the time was to repeal laws against abortion, gaining their right to privacy. Following the plan of the Constitution, states were left with the right to regulate abortion. The Constitution stated that police power--controlling the people and property in interests of health and welfare was to be left to the state. At the time of the Roe v. Wade decision, only a few states had allowed abortion. Norma McCorvey had discovered she was pregnant, and attempted to receive an illegal abortion in Dallas, Texas. Norma, who would be called Jane Roe, filed suit against Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, contesting that her right to privacy was being violated. The case was taken to the Supreme Court, and stirred up much controversy. The court decided that restricting women from abortion violated their Fourteenth Amendment right, and that their fundamental right to chose was protected by the Constitution. The decision concluded that during the first trimester of pregnancy, a woman was allowed to receive an abortion under any circumstances. During the second trimester, abortion was only permitted if the mother’s life was in danger. Abortion during the third trimester is not permitted under any circumstances. Women’s rights group celebrated the decision, but many opposing groups appeared. The National Right to Life Committee formed with the goal of reversing the decision of Roe v. Wade. Religious groups such as the Catholic Church have also expressed opinions against abortion. Roe v. Wade has taken abortions out of back rooms where they were illegally performed, and allowed them in safe clinics with doctors and sanitary conditions. It has protected the privacy of women, allowed them to make their own decisions about their bodies, and maintained a separation of church and state.

In the 1960s under the Warren Court, the Supreme Court made decisions that expanded the rights of the accused in the United States. In 1963, the rape and kidnapping of a young woman in the desert was reported to police in Phoenix, Arizona. Based on statements