Show the SUPREME COURT AND HOW IT WORKS guarding personal rights by ROBERT MERRILL THE HE supreme court has protected citizens not only from unfair treatment on the part of the federal government but also from being deprived of constitutional rights by the governments of their own states an act of legislature which discriminates crimi nates unfairly against a citizen violates his bis rights under the constitution the government must not only treat him fairly but must treat him in the same manner in which it treats other persons under similar conditions on frequent occasions citizens have appealed to the tha court and asked why should the law of my state impose hardships upon me which it does not impose upon other people this a discrimination against me and a violation of my right to the due process of law guaranteed by the constitution of the united states matrimonial rights when such a question Is brought before it the court studies the case and if it decides the petitioner Is right assures the protection sought for example at one time in the eyes of the law husband and wife were regarded as one person the husband today however a married woman may ma enter into contracts and may own and enjoy her own property some years ago a state attempted to impose on one of its citizens an income tax which was calculated upon the combined incomes of the citizen and his wife because of the graduated scale of taxation the amount of tax claimed was greater than it would have been had the individual incomes of husband and wife been separately taxed the husband believed this unfair and appealed to the supreme court of the united states he pointed out that under the laws of the state he had bad no control over his wiles property or income and held that therefore it was unjust tor for the state to I 1 impose taxes tor for them upon him the court heard his case agreed with his contention and gave the relief tor for which he asked declaring the exaction arbitrary and a denial of due process newspapers unfairly taxed we have no doubt explained the opinion that because of the fundamental conceptions which underlie our system any attempt by a state to measure the tax on one persons property or income by reference to the property or income of another is contrary to due process of law as guaranteed by the amendment that which is not in tact fact the taxpayers income cannot be made such by calling it income in a more recent case a state law la w was passed imposing a tax upon the advertising income acome of all newspapers in the state with a circulation of over a week since this affected only the larger publications they protested that they were being treated unfairly they held that while the state had power to impose taxes it had no right to tax some newspapers and not others unless there was some reasonable ground on which they could be differently ferent ly classified the suit was carried to the supreme court of the united states the court heard the newspapers appesland app appeal ealand and decided in their favor the court in its opinion referred to an un trammelled press as a vital source of public information it pointed out that the case went to the heart of the natural right of the members of an organized society united for their common good to impart and acquire information about their common interests freedom of the press the amendment to the federal constitution the opinion explained pla ined provides that congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the pr press e ss I 1 while this provision is not n ta a restraint upon the powers of the states the states are precluded from abridging the freedom freeda im ot of speech or of the press by force of the due process clause of the th e amendment A men dment A tree free press it added stands as one of the great interpreters between the government and the people to T 0 allow it to be fettered is to tetter fetter ourselves in this way does our national umpire insist that the rules laid down b the people in the united states constitution be observed not only by the federal government but by all state governments as well a western newspaper union |