AP Government Key Court Cases

Vocabulary practice flashcards detailing key Supreme Court cases, their legal outcomes, precedents, and specific constitutional applications.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Established judicial review following a judicial appointments dispute; established the Supreme Court's power to declare legislative or executive actions unconstitutional, strengthening judicial branch power.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) (a)

Confirmed implied powers and expanded federal power; ruled under the Necessary and Proper Clause that Congress could create a national bank as a legitimate means of carrying out its enumerated powers.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) (b)

Established federal supremacy over conflicting state action; ruled under the Supremacy Clause that Maryland could not tax the national bank and that states cannot interfere with legitimate federal actions.

Schenck v. United States (1919)

Allowed limits on speech creating a clear and present danger; established under the First Amendment that anti-draft speech during World War I could be restricted because the circumstances created a clear and present danger.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Ruled that race-based school segregation violates the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause; determined that separate public schools are inherently unequal, rejecting Plessy's separate-but-equal rule in public education.

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Prohibited school-sponsored prayer under the First Amendment Establishment Clause; established that a public school cannot sponsor or compose a prayer, even when participation is voluntary.

Baker v. Carr (1962) (a)

Made redistricting disputes justiciable in federal court; determined that redistricting does not automatically present a political question and that federal courts may hear constitutional challenges to redistricting plans.

Baker v. Carr (1962) (b)

Allowed Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection challenges to unequal legislative districts; held that malapportioned districts that dilute voting power can be challenged, paving the way for later 'one person, one vote' rulings.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Guaranteed counsel for state felony defendants who cannot afford an attorney; selectively incorporated the Sixth Amendment right to counsel to apply to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Protected public-school students' symbolic speech under the First Amendment; ruled that wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War was protected political speech because it did not substantially disrupt school.

New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)

Strengthened freedom of the press and protection against prior restraint under the First Amendment; held that the government faces a heavy presumption against stopping publication before it occurs, even when national security is asserted.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Protected the Free Exercise of religion under the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause; ruled that Amish families could not be compelled to send their children to school beyond eighth grade.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Allowed Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection challenges to racial gerrymandering; ruled that voters may challenge majority-minority districts when race is the only factor used in creating the district.

United States v. Lopez (1995)

Limited Congress's Commerce Clause power and federal power; ruled that making gun possession in a school zone a federal crime exceeded Congress's authority because the activity was not sufficiently tied to interstate commerce.

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

Applied the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms to state and local governments through selective incorporation via the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause.

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

Protected political spending by corporations, associations, and labor unions as speech under the First Amendment; established that independent political spending is protected political expression, linking free speech protections to campaign finance.

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

Recognized a constitutional right to privacy protected from government infringement under the Due Process Clause; part of the CED's substantive-due-process and unenumerated-rights sequence.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Extended the constitutional right to privacy to include abortion decisions under substantive due process; this holding was later overturned by Dobbs.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022)

Overturned Roe v. Wade; held that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion, leaving abortion regulation to legislatures and leaving the scope of privacy and substantive due process debated.