In 1873, New York enacted a landmark civil rights law to prohibit racial discrimination in public accommodations across the state. This legislative action in the United States provided a critical…
In 1964, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Maryland Committee for Fair Representation v. Tawes that Maryland's legislative apportionment was unconstitutional. This decision forced a massive restructuring of the…
The 1975 New Hampshire Senate election dispute between Louis Wyman and John Durkin created a months-long constitutional crisis over the U.S. Senate's power to judge its own elections. The vacancy…
In 1910, a coalition of Progressive Republicans and Democrats staged a legislative revolt against Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon in Washington, D.C. This constitutional crisis over the concentration…
Operation Greylord was a massive undercover FBI investigation into the Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago during the early 1980s. The probe resulted in the conviction of dozens of officials,…
The 1807 treason trial of Aaron Burr established critical precedents for the definition of treason and the limits of executive power in the United States. Presided over by Chief Justice…
In 1801, the United States faced a constitutional crisis when outgoing President John Adams appointed dozens of Federalist judges in his final hours. This maneuver, known as the "Midnight Judges,"…
In 1978, California voters faced Proposition 6, a ballot initiative that sought to ban gay and lesbian individuals from teaching in public schools. The United States watched as a grassroots…
In 1983, the United States experienced a constitutional crisis when EPA Administrator Anne Gorsuch Burford refused to release Superfund documents to Congress. The resulting contempt citation and legal battle clarified…
