The film is directed at students of civics and contemporary American problems. CBS News correspondents Eric Sevareid and Martin Agronsky question Justice Black on a range of issues including absolutes in the Bill of Rights, the concept of separate but equal in school education, and the Supreme Court desegregation ruling. Other topics include the possible conflict between constitutional law and morality, freedom of speech, and police powers versus the rights of the accused. Justice Black, who has been called the Supreme Court's philosopher, also discusses Supreme Court cases of particular significance and provides a historic perspective on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.