AP Gov Required SCOTUS Cases

Marbury V. Madison (1803) Overview

• At the end of President John Adams term, he appointed several midnight judges, including Marbury

• As Jefferson took office, his secretary of state, Madison, refused to deliver Marbury’s commission

• Marbury requested the Supreme Court to order Madison to deliver his commission (writ of mandamus)

Marbury V. Madison - Provisions and Decision

• Judiciary Act of 1789:

McCulloch V. Maryland Overview

McCulloch V. MD - Arguments for McCulloch

McCulloch V. MD - Arguments for Maryland

McCulloch V. MD - Provisions and Decision

Tinker V. Des Moines (1969)

• A group of students at the time of the Vietnam War decided to protest the war by wearing black armbands to school

• The school announced a policy that would suspend the students for wearing the armbands

• Three students (Tinker, Tinker, Eckhardt). wore the armbands and were sent home. The school said they could not return w the armbands

• Lower Courts dismissed the case, siding w the school district

• Does a prohibition against wearing the armbands as a form of symbolic speech violate the students’ freedom of speech protections under the First Amendment?

Tinker V. Des Moines – Provisions and Decision

First Amendment

WV Board of Education V. Barnette (1943):

• Court ruled the requirement to salute the flag was unconstitutional as it is a form of speech and cannot be controlled.

Decision:

• Court ruled 7-2 in favor of Tinker

• Students and Teacher uphold their first amendment rights within school, however in the cases of substantial disruption schools have the right to discipline or limit speech

Substantial Disruption Test:

• Public school officials must be able to prove evidence of disruption or reasonable forecast of disruption

NYT V. US (1971) Overview

• Ellsberg (a government employee) copied classified reports (the Pentagon Papers) and leaked them to the NYT and Washington Post. The papers revealed inconsistencies in true motivations and what the gov’t was telling the public

• Nixon ordered the NYT to stop publishing the papers, but they continued publishing them and got charged under the Espionage Act

• Appellate courts ruled in favor of the US

• Did the government’s efforts to prevent two newspapers from publishing classified information given to them by a government leaker violate the First Amendment protection of freedom of the press?

NYT V. US – Provisions and Decision

First Amendment

Near v. Minnesota (1931)

Decision

• 6-3 in favor of newspapers as the justification for prior restraint was not good enough

• Left the ability for the government to restrain the press if the story would do “grave and irreparable damage” to the nation