Octang Frye

Oh dear, oh dear. The debate is on Thursday between Palin and Biden.
If you didn't already cringe at the Couric/Palin interview, you definitely will over this. She was asked to name a Supreme Court case other than Roe v. Wade. <silence>

How many of these do you know or have at least heard of?

Marbury v. Madison
Dred Scott
Plessy v. Ferguson
Brown v. Board
Roe v. Wade
Korematsu
Lawrence v. Texas
Texas v. Johnson
Miranda
Gideon v. Wainwright
Bush v. Gore
NY Times v. USA
Lemon v. Kurtzman
DC v. Heller

Michael

Dred Scott
Brown v. Board of Education
Roe v. Wade
Miranda
Gideon v. Wainwright
Bush v. Gore

Can't wait for the Palin / Biden debate.

md95065

There were only three on that list that I didn't immediately recognize ...

Korematsu
Lemon v. Kurtzman
DC v. Heller

Surely, if nothing else, she must have heard of Nixon v U.S. ...

lapin_windstar

Going off to check my answers now, hope I'm not too far off the mark!

HoosierDaddy

Roe v Wade

Bush didn't care how they got out of New Orleans.....

Titchski

I only know a couple

Brown v Board of Ed was about segregation and the right to decent schooling whatever area one happened to live in etc etc

Bush v Gore: about the voting in Florida (should have sued the confused old gits in my MIL's retirement compound - they all voted for Buchanan )

Roe v Wade: Abortion

Miranda: Advisement of rights at time of arrest (I think)

Don't know the rest, will look them up!

scrubbedexpat097

tamms_1965

Dred Scott Plessy v. Ferguson Brown v. Board Roe v. Wade
Miranda

HoosierDaddy

Was Kramer vs Kramer one of 'em?

scrubbedexpat097

.........(where is the groan smillie when you need it)

Rete

Sounds like someone who does NOT think well on her feet.

Leslie

Marbury v. Madison
Dred Scott
Plessy v. Ferguson
Brown v. Board
Roe v. Wade
Lawrence v. Texas
Texas v. Johnson
Miranda
Gideon v. Wainwright
Bush v. Gore


Some I knew well from memory (Bush v Gore, Dred Scott, Roe v Wade, Miranda, Brown v Board of Education) .... the others I had to check to see if they really were the ones that I thought they were.

In all honesty though, I've had two constitutional government classes this year and the memories are pretty fresh.

Most of us are ordinary citizens and we don't really need to remember the name of every major Supreme Court case - but rather the resulting ruling and precedence that was set as it impacts our country and our lives. I would think that the expectation would be a little higher for the Vice POTUS though.

Steerpike

I only recognized 3 of the items above by name (Miranda, Brown v Board, Bush v. Gore) in addition to Roe. But as I googled each one, some were familiar to me in terms of content - eg, Lawrence v Texas (striking down Texas' sodomy law), Texas v. Johnson (flag burning issue), etc. I would expect more people to be aware of them by content than by name. But then - someone who might be appointing Supreme Court Justices someday may be expected to have a bit more familiarity!

Bluegrass Lass

I only recognized a few of them after reading what some of you wrote about the descriptions. I never studied any governmental classes (high school american history ended at around 1900). So I have to say that when it comes to the law, I'm sadly lacking in knowledge...however, I have no immediate plans to run for VP POTUS or POTUS.

MsElui

if you named some of the major legal cases in the UK that changed the direction of English case law - would people also recognise them? I would be suprised as the name of the case isnt made into such a big deal by the press in the UK - its not often even mentioned in the reporting.