Supreme Court of the United States, 1968

Justice Fortas’s opinion for the Court held that Arkansas’s prohibition on teaching human evolution violated the First Amendment, applied through the Fourteenth Amendment, because it excluded a scientific theory solely to protect a particular religious doctrine.

The Court held that the Sixth Amendment jury‑trial rules announced in Duncan v. Louisiana and Bloom v. Illinois apply only prospectively, so the petitioners’ convictions are not subject to reversal. It based the prospective application on the Stovall factors of purpose, reliance, and effect.

The Court affirmed Powell’s conviction for public intoxication without a majority rationale. Justice Marshall’s plurality, joined by Chief Justice Warren and Justices Black and Harlan, distinguished punishment for public conduct from punishment for the status of alcoholism and declined to constitutionalize a general…

The Court held that the rules requiring a jury trial for serious criminal cases (Duncan v. Louisiana) and for serious criminal contempt (Bloom v. Illinois) apply only prospectively, so the petitioners' collateral relief is denied; Justice Douglas dissented, arguing for retroactive application.

Chief Justice Warren's opinion reversed Sibron's conviction and affirmed Peters' conviction. Sibron's completed sentence did not moot his appeal because collateral legal consequences remained possible.

The Court held that federal taxpayers have standing to challenge congressional taxing-and-spending enactments alleged to violate specific constitutional limitations on that power, including the Establishment Clause.

The Supreme Court reversed the lower courts, holding that dismissing public employees for refusing to waive their Fifth Amendment self‑incrimination privilege violates the Constitution.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Harlan, held that § 106(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act gives courts of appeals exclusive review jurisdiction only over determinations made during § 242(b) deportation proceedings, including determinations incident to motions to reopen those proceedings.

Justice Marshall's opinion held that Pickering's dismissal for his newspaper letter criticizing school financing violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Public employees retain rights to speak as citizens on matters of public concern, subject to balancing against the government's interests as an employer.

The Court held that damages resulting from the negligence of a receiver acting within the scope of his authority constitute “actual and necessary” costs of a Chapter XI arrangement and therefore qualify as first‑priority administrative expenses under § 64a(1).

The Court declined to reverse on the claim that excluding prospective jurors opposed to capital punishment necessarily produced a jury biased toward conviction, because the petitioner had not substantiated that claim and received life imprisonment.

Justice Harlan's opinion held that damages caused by a receiver's negligence within the scope of his authority qualify as actual and necessary costs of a Chapter XI arrangement, entitled to administrative-expense priority.

Chief Justice Warren's opinion upheld the prohibition on knowingly destroying or mutilating Selective Service certificates, both on its face and as applied to O'Brien's protest burning.

Justice Brennan delivered the unanimous opinion holding that school boards formerly operating state-compelled segregated schools have an affirmative duty to dismantle their dual systems and establish unitary, nonracial systems.

The Court held that admitting a nontestifying codefendant’s confession expressly implicating the defendant at their joint trial violated the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right of confrontation, notwithstanding clear instructions limiting the confession’s use to the codefendant. It overruled Delli Paoli v.

Justice Marshall's opinion affirmed summary judgment for Cities Service in a private antitrust conspiracy action. The Court held that the developed record did not provide significantly probative evidence that Cities joined the alleged boycott, that Rule 56(e) required the plaintiff to produce specific supporting facts…

The Court held that Miranda warnings were required before a revenue agent obtained incriminating evidence from a prisoner during a routine tax investigation, even though the investigation could have remained civil and the prisoner's confinement concerned an unrelated offense.

The Court held that reckless disregard in a public official's defamation action requires evidence that the defendant actually entertained serious doubts about the publication's truth, rather than merely failed to exercise reasonable care or investigate. Thompson's evidence did not establish that St.

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Marshall, held that introducing a witness's preliminary-hearing testimony violated the right of confrontation where the State made no good-faith effort to obtain the witness's presence from federal custody in another state.

Justice Brennan's opinion upheld New York's prohibition on knowingly selling minors under 17 material defined as obscene for them, even though the material was not obscene for adults.

The Supreme Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment's one man, one vote principle applies to local government: a State that delegates lawmaking power to local government and elects local officials from districts must give qualified voters an equally effective voice, and the Constitution permits no substantial…

The Court held per curiam that a plaintiff who obtains an injunction under Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 should ordinarily receive reasonable attorney’s fees unless special circumstances would make an award unjust.

Justice Harlan's opinion held that photographic identification warrants setting aside a conviction only when the procedure was so impermissibly suggestive as to create a very substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification; Simmons's identification did not meet that standard.

The Court affirmed the three‑judge district court decree that Alabama statutes requiring racial segregation in prisons and jails violate the Fourteenth Amendment. It rejected the State’s arguments that Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure was violated and that the desegregation order ignored prison security…

The Supreme Court affirmed the district court decree that Alabama statutes mandating racial segregation in prisons and jails violate the Fourteenth Amendment, and rejected the State's claim that Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure was violated; a concurring opinion noted that prison officials may consider…

The Court held that the Pacific Maritime Association's agreement allocating assessments for its mechanization fund was an agreement required to be filed with and approved by the Federal Maritime Commission under § 15 of the Shipping Act.