Liberty on Trial in America: Cases That Defined Freedom

There is no toleration of religious dissent in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1600s; Anne Hutchinson shares with others her religious ideas and gathers a following; the governor puts her on trial for heresy; the trials and punishment of Anne.

Freedom of speech is not recognized liberty; speech critical of the powers can land one in legal trouble; the colonial history of press freedom; attempts to influence juries as they try to affect the libel trial of John Peter Zenger.

The citizens of the newly formed United States cannot agree on the moral issue of slavery; they are willing to take up its more narrow legal issues; how the legal system supports the institution of slavery; the trials of Anthony Burns and Celia.

John Brown's plan to end slavery comes to a tragic end at Harper's Ferry, Va.; Brown is charged with treason, murder and slave insurrection; John Brown's trial and execution play a significant role in the eventual end of slavery in the US.

Susan B. Anthony believes she is a citizen of the United States according to the Fourteenth Amendment and has the right to vote; after dropping her ballot into the box at the West End New Depot in Rochester, N.Y., on Election Day, she is arrested.

Labor tensions are at the boiling point in Chicago; someone throws a bomb at police officers; eight defendants are tried by a jury picked by the bailiff; seven are found guilty; this trial becomes a key event in the history of free speech in America.

In 1925, Tennessee enacts a law criminalizing the teaching of evolution in any state-supported school; John Scopes serves as a test case for the law; the opinions expressed on both sides; the trial's publicity brings the issue into American homes.

Dr. Sweet, an African American, buys a home in a white neighborhood of Detroit; a white crowd gathers around the house and one member of the crowd dies; police charge everyone in the Sweet home with premeditated murder; Clarence Darrow's defense.

Exploring two cases that address whether or not Jehovah's Witnesses can be forced to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools; learning why the Court comes down first on one side of the issue, and then the other.

In 1942, President Roosevelt signs an order requiring that all Japanese Americans move to "relocation camps"; Fred Korematsu refuses; how Korematsu carries his fight against what he thinks is an "un-American" law all the way to the Supreme Court.

Learning about Charles H. Houston, the African American lawyer who makes it his life's work to challenge Jim Crow laws; he wins a Supreme Court victory in the case of Gaines v. Missouri; Houston's work influences his successor, Thurgood Marshall.

Lenny Bruce is considered a trailblazer of American stand-up comedy; in the 1950s and 1960s, he is considered an obscene subversive and is arrested numerous times; it explores the ways in which Bruce and the First Amendment affect each other.

Richard and Mildred Loving are unable to marry due to the color of their skin; how the case of this couple goes all the way to the Supreme Court; how the Court's ruling eventually leads to marriage equality for same-sex couples as well.

In the 1960s, the Amish do not believe their children should be required to attend school past the age of 16; how the issue makes it to the Supreme Court; which conflicting liberties are considered; why the Court decides in favor of the parents.

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that capital punishment as then administered is unconstitutional; legal experts believe this will end the death penalty; why this is not the case; the complexities of the law as it relates to capital punishment.

Whether it is legal to release top-secret documents to the press; whether the government can stop a newspaper from publishing classified material; how these questions affect the country's political life; how they lead to the president's resignation.

Desperate for an abortion, Norma McCorvey agrees to take the case to court; the famous decision that results; the many other ways in which American courts have intervened in personal decisions related to sterilization, birth control and abortion.

Well into the 20th century, every state has laws prohibiting at least one sexual act; exploring the numerous lawsuits and trials that eventually extend the protection of privacy to include intimacy, regardless of sexual orientation.

Whether Americans have the freedom to isolate themselves, express hateful views and stockpile weapons; the story and trial that starts with Randy and Vicki Weaver wanting to separate themselves from society and ends with three dead at Ruby Ridge.

Jack Kevorkian helps hundreds end their pain and suffering; exploring Dr. Kevorkian's work on behalf of an individual's right to euthanasia; why he believes he is taking a stand for liberty; why he is eventually convicted of second-degree homicide.

Scout leader James Dale challenges the Boy Scouts of America's authority to use sexual orientation as a basis for exclusion; the Supreme Court sides with the Boy Scouts; examining the reasons for, and effects of, the ruling.

Whether a city has the right to use eminent domain; how Susette Kelo's refusal to sell her "little pink house" in New London, Conn., leads to a Supreme Court case addressing what she describes as "eminent domain abuse"; why she loses the case.

U.S. candidates' history of spending for elections; why the Supreme Court declares any ban on political spending by corporations to be unconstitutional in 2010; why most polls show strong support for a constitutional amendment to overturn the ruling.

Greater liberties for other living beings; how "Tommy" becomes the first chimpanzee to have a suit filed on his behalf; why one judge on the New York Court of Appeals says the issue of fundamental rights for nonhuman animals is not going away.