The Eighties in America Legislation: U.S. Supreme Court Decisions 1109
Year Case Significance
1986 Renton v. Playtime Theatres In this pornography case, the Court held that communities could
restrict the location of X-rated movie theaters to sites away from homes,
schools, churches, and parks. This ruling was consistent with its 1986
ruling inAmerican Booksellers Association v. Hudnut, because in both
decisions the justices reaffirmed that sexually explicit materials—unlike
obscenity—deserved some First Amendment protection but less
protection than other kinds of speech, especially political speech.
1986 Thornburgh v. American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Citing its 1983 decisions inAkron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health
andPlanned Parenthood v. Ashcroft, the Court overturned portions of the
Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act of 1982, finding that these provisions
infringed on a woman’s fundamental right to an abortion. The majority
opinion by Justice Harry A. Blackmun stated that it was unconstitutional
to give a woman information designed to dissuade her from having an
abortion; the decision maintained it also was unconstitutional to invade
a woman’s privacy by making information about her abortion available
to the public.1987 Edwards v. Aguillard In a 7-2 opinion, the Court ruled that Louisiana could not require
public schools that taught evolution to also teach creationism as
“Creation Science.” The opinion concluded the law had no secular
purpose and endorsed religion in violation of the Constitution’s
establishment clause separating church and state.
1987 Rotary International v. Rotary Club of
Duarte
The justices upheld a California law that required Rotary Clubs to
admit women. The Court found that the state’s compelling interest in
ending sexual discrimination outweighed the group’s right of
association.1987 South Dakota v. Dole Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote the majority opinion, in which he
ruled as constitutional a federal law that withheld 5 percent of a state’s
highway funds if that state did not raise its minimum drinking age to 21.
The law was upheld because it was passed in the interest of the “general
good” and by “reasonable means.”
1988 Hazelwood School District. v. Kuhlmeier In a decision that First Amendment advocates considered a major
setback in protecting students’ free speech rights, the Court concluded
that a school principal could censor the contents of a student
newspaper if that newspaper was part of a class assignment and not a
forum for public discussion.
1988 Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery
Protective Association
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s majority opinion held that the
Constitution’s free exercise of religion clause did not bar the federal
government from harvesting timber in and building a road through a
national forest area that Native Americans used for religious purposes.1988 Hustler Magazine v. Falwell This unanimous ruling by eight justices was considered a landmark case
for freedom of speech. It involved a case in which the Reverend Jerry
Falwell suedHustler Magazinefor publishing a fake satirical
advertisement poking fun at him and his deceased mother. The Court
ruled in favor of the magazine, maintaining that satire and parody were
protected forms of free speech.