Check out our new film The Confrontation Clause: Crawford v. Washington. You can find the whole film streaming online for free at the Annenberg Classroom website. The film tells the story of how we got the right to confront our accusers in court (and what happened to one famous person who didn’t have that right). But what happens when your accuser isn’t a person but a taped confession?
The National Archives
50 years ago, Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) became the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States when he was confirmed by the Senate on August 30, 1967. Marshall was one of the most prominent legal minds of the Civil Rights era, winning 29 of the 32 cases he argued before the Supreme Court. In 1952, he argued the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which overturned segregation and the doctrine of “separate but equal” that had ben in place in the South since Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Marshall served on the Court for 24 years.
Learn more about Brown v. Board of Education in our film An Independent Judiciary.
Lilly Ledbetter, who had a Federal Act named after her that makes it easier for women to file pay discrimination lawsuits.
The White House announced earlier this week that it is halting a rule that would have required employers with more than 100 employees (and federal contractors with more than 50 employees) to give detailed reports each year on how they compensate each employee by gender. The rule, which would have gone into effect next year, was aimed at ensuring companies treat employees equally by forcing companies to be transparent on gender wage gaps. Women in the United States make, on average, 20% less than men or $.80 for every dollar earned by their male colleagues.
Learn more about the fight for equal pay in our film A Call to Act.
Freedom of the Press: NY Times v. United States has been award a 2017 Clarion Award in the category of Education. The Clarion Awards are given out by the Association for Women in Communications, which promotes the advancement of women in communications. The Clarion Awards recognize “excellence in clear, concise communications” across multiple media fields.
For more information on Freedom of the Press: NY Times v. Sullivan and for a link to watch the film in its entirety, click here.
“Declaration of Independence,” by John Trumbull (Architect of the Capitol)
On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, formally severing ties between the original 13 colonies of what would become the United States and Great Britain. In the Declaration, the Founders lay out a series of grievances against the King, including taxation without representation, cutting off trade between the colonies and foreign countries, denying the colonists trial by jury in all cases, and refusing to allow the colonists to establish their own governments and laws, among other grievances. The entire document can be read the National Archives.
