Education, civil rights, and students with disabilities

The Oyez Project at Northwestern University is the most comprehensive multimedia database on the U.S. Supreme Court. It is located on the internet at http://www.oyez.org/oyez/frontpage. Use the Oyez site's search function to locate the case of Cedar Rapids Community School District v. Garret F. and Charlene F. (1999). In this case the Court addressed the issue of whether a school district is legally obligated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to provide one-on-one care to a disabled student. Listen to the announcement of the Court's opinion in this case, which was read by Justice Stevens. Why was the distinction between "related services" and "medical services" so crucial in the Court's decision in this case? How did the Court's decision uphold the value of equality?




Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), known as "Bakke" for short, is one of the most significant U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the question of affirmative action in university admissions. Audio of the announcement of the Court's opinion is available on the internet from The Oyez Project's web site. Go to the Oyez site, http://www.oyez.org/oyez/frontpage, and find the Bakke decision. Activate the Real Audio announcement of the Court's opinion with transcript to listen to (and read along with) excerpts of the remarks from the following Justices: Stevens (13:15 - 20:30) and Blackmun (39:45 - 41:15 and 44:00 - 50:20). Aside from their disagreement in the overall outcome, Stevens and Blackmun approached this case in fundamentally different ways. What was so different about how they reached their respective decisions?