Kerby Anderson

Yesterday I talked about the number of narrow (5-4) Supreme Court cases. Many have been using them to illustrate how important the presidential election will be to the future of America. Today, let’s look at a First Amendment case, a Second Amendment case, and a case involving restrictions on abortion.

The first case involved a question about the legality of Mojave Memorial Cross. This cross was placed on Sunrise Rock in the Mojave Desert and was put up by the VFW foundation in 1934 to honor World War I dead. For some time, a bag was placed over the cross until the court could rule on the case. The Supreme Court ruled by a vote 5-4 in 2010 that the cross could stay but also sent the case back to a lower court.

Two cases involving the Second Amendment are the Heller case (decided in 2008) and the McDonald case (decided in 2010). In the Heller case, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess a firearm for traditionally lawful purposes (such as self-defense within the home). Also, it addressed similar Second Amendment issues in the McDonald case out of Chicago that was also a 5-4 decision.

The Supreme Court also ruled in 2007 on the issue of partial birth abortion. President Bush signed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act that was then found unconstitutional in a few U.S. District Courts. The Supreme Court upheld the legislation by a vote of 5-4.

Over the last two days, I have talked about a number of major court cases that were all decided by a 5-4 vote. Perhaps you can now see why so many people feel the presidential election is so important. The next president will be able to shape future rulings on a variety of issues through the people that he or she put on the Supreme Court.