The Oyez Project: 1947 Term Decisions

Bute v. Illinois (No. 398)

Does the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment require an attorney for Bute's defense?

No, an attorney is not required. Due process does not require states to provide counsel or to determine whether the defendant wants counsel. State courts are not bound by the procedures that federal courts are bound to follow. State court procedures are permissible unless they violate "the very essence of a scheme of ordered liberty." This case was reversed by Gideon v. Wainwright (1963).

Funk Bros. Seed Co. v. Kalo Inoculant Co. (No. 280)

No details yet.

McCollum v. Board of Education Dist. 71 (No. 90)

Did the use of the public school system for religious classes violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause?

Yes. The Court held that the use of tax-supported property for religious instruction and the close cooperation between the school authorities and the religious council violated the Establishment clause. Because pupils were required to attend school and were released in part from this legal duty if they attended the religious classes, the Court found that the Champaign system was "beyond question a utilization of the tax-established and tax-supported public school system to aid religious groups and to spread the faith."

Shelley v. Kraemer (No. 72)

Does the enforcement of a racially restrictive covenant violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment?

State courts could not constitutionally prevent the sale of real property to blacks even if that property is covered by a racially restrictive covenant. Standing alone, racially restrictive covenants violate no rights. However, their enforcement by state court injunctions constitute state action in violation of the 14th Amendment.