Anita Whitney Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Anita Whitney - Essay Example On her defence, Whitney distanced herself from the claims that the group or herself never intended to an instrument of violence fashioned to overthrow the government as alleged by the state (Whitney 46). Issues During the reign of governor of California, William Stephens, syndicalism was criminalized and those found guilty of it were to be charged by the state for a criminal offence. In this regard, syndicalism was defined as an attempt to replace capitalism with other economic systems through confederation of collectivized unions. Rule In the adjudication of this case, the question that was before the judges was to judicially determines if the 1919 act that enshrined syndicalism as a criminal offence in California violated the provision of the fourteenth Amendments that highlighted equal protection and due process clauses. In the ruling of the court, the judges in a vote that resulted into 9-0 arrived into a determination that it did not violate the provision necessitating Whitneyâ €™s conviction (Whitney 49).... ation of Whitney’s case was to be used as a list of authorities in this case, it culminated into the overruling of the Whitney v California case (Whitney 57). In the ruling from the United States Supreme Court, the court determined that the government could not reprimand inflammatory speeches unless it can be proved that the intent was to incite and the speech itself also has the potential to incite as alleged. Conclusion From the ruling of Whitney V California case, it will be found that the provision of the law do overlap and without critical legal evaluation of the provision of the law, determination of the cases can be very detrimental to the accused, it therefore requires full understanding of a statute and its intention before the judiciary enforces it. Illinois v Gates, 462 U.S.213 Facts In this case that took place in May 1978, the police in Bloomingdale, Illinois, did receive an anonymous letter that gave detailed information on the conduct of Sue and Lance Gates as d rug dealers. It accounted for their itinerary and how they transit drugs from one point to the next, the police then took initiative to make a follow up of the reported case with approval of the warrant to make a search on Sue and Lance from the court. When the police tracked the two, they indeed found marijuana in their car and additional drugs in the house together with other weapons. The case was taken to the Supreme Court after it was ruled that the search was against the law and that the decision of the judge to issue a warrant on anonymous tip was unlawful (Carmen and Walker 51a). Issues The issues surrounding the case were whether it was in order for the police to use a warrant based on anonymous source to conduct a search. Earlier in the Illinois circuit courts, the case had been