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Air-Traffic Controllers Strike
In 1981, while President Reagan was in office, thousands of air-traffic controllers tried to negotiate their working conditions and pay by going on strike. President Reagan did not try to negotiate with the workers but instead fired all of them due to the fact that they were breaking a law that did not allow federal workers to go on strike. Some people thought Reagan's actions showed his strong leadership, while others believed it was an attack on the labor movement. -
Equal Access Act
The Equal Access Act is an act that forces schools to allow groups to have access to their facilities. Christian groups favour the act because it allowed them to meet on school property that was off limits to them before. -
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act
The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act was a law that allowed spending cuts to automatically take place if Congress and the President had failed to meet set goals. The automatic cuts were declared unconstitutional, and a new version of the law was enacted in 1987. -
Iran-Contra Scandal
A confidential arrangement during the 1980's that provided money to the Nicaraguan rebels using the money obtained by the selling of weapons to Iran. The Iran-Contra Scandal was the outcome of two goals under the administration of President Reagan. The first goal was to help the Contras who had been creating a war against the Sandinista Government of Nicaragua. The second goal was to appease the Iranian Government so that the U.S. could ensure the release of American hostages. -
Board of Education of Westside Community Schools V. Mergens
The administration of Westside High School disallowed a group of students to start a Christian club with the same equal access and meeting terms as other Westside after school clubs. Mergens and several other students sued saying that Westside's refusal violated the Equal Access Act. The court ruled in favor of the students. -
Reno v. ACLU
The Federal Communications Decency Act made it against the law to send indecent messages via the internet. The court ruled that the "Indecent transmission" provision violated freedom of speech. -
Mitchell v. Helms
Chapter two of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act allows the distribution of funds for school equipment to public and private schools. Mary Helms filed suit saying that the policy violated the 1st Amendment's Establishment Clause. The Supreme Court, however, stated that Chapter 2 is not a law regaurding an establishment of religion and ruled in favor of Mitchell. -
Bush v. Gore
After the heavily argued presidential election of 2000, Florida's Supreme Court requested that every county in Florida had to recount ballots. George Bush requested a review in the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court stated that Florida's plan for recounting Ballots was unconstitutional, and also stated that the Equal Protection Clause promises that individual's ballots can't be devalued.