SCOTUS Cases and Foundational Documents Review

A comprehensive vocabulary review of key Supreme Court cases and foundational documents for AP Government study.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

A landmark 1803 Supreme Court case under Article III that established the principle of judicial review, giving the Court the power to nullify acts of the legislative or executive branch that violate the Constitution.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

An 1819 Supreme Court case relying on the Supremacy Clause and Necessary and Proper Clause that confirmed Congress's implied powers under the Elastic Clause and ruled that states cannot tax or interfere with federal activities.

Schenck v. US (1919)

A 1919 First Amendment Free Speech case ruling that distributing anti-draft pamphlets during World War I created a 'clear and present danger' and was not protected speech.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

A 1954 Supreme Court decision under the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause that reversed the 'separate but equal' doctrine from Plessy v. Ferguson and outlawed race-based segregation in public schools.

Baker v. Carr (1962)

A 1962 Equal Protection Clause case holding that legislative redistricting presents justiciable questions for federal courts and establishing the principle of 'one man, one vote.'

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

A 1962 First Amendment case ruling that state-sponsored prayer in public schools is an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

A 1963 case that selectively incorporated the Sixth Amendment right to counsel to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause, guaranteeing an attorney for poor or indigent defendants.

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

A 1969 First Amendment Free Speech case establishing that public school students retain symbolic speech rights at school, protecting their right to wear black armbands to protest the Vietnam War if it does not cause a disruption.

New York Times Co. v. US (1971)

A 1971 First Amendment Freedom of the Press decision establishing a heavy presumption against prior restraint, allowing newspapers to publish the classified Pentagon Papers without government censorship.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

A 1972 First Amendment Free Exercise Clause case holding that the fundamental right to freedom of religion outweighs state interests in education, making it illegal to compel Amish students to attend school past the eighth grade.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

A 1973 case ruling that a woman's decision to obtain an abortion is protected by an implied right to privacy grounded in the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

A 1993 Equal Protection Clause case holding that redistricting where race is the predominant factor (racial gerrymandering) must be held to strict scrutiny.

US v. Lopez (1995)

A 1995 Federalism ruling that Congress exceeded its authority under the Commerce Clause when passing the Gun Free School Zones Act, establishing that gun possession near schools is not an interstate commercial activity.

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

A 2010 First Amendment Free Speech case ruling that political spending by corporations, associations, and labor unions is protected speech that cannot be limited by law, overturning parts of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

A 2010 case that selectively incorporated the Second Amendment individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause.

Declaration of Independence

Adopted on July 4, 1776, and authored by Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Sherman, and Livingston; states that all people are created equal with natural rights (Life, Liberty, Property) and have the right and duty to alter or abolish a tyrannical government.

Articles of Confederation

Adopted on November 15, 1777, and authored by Benjamin Franklin; established a weak central government with a unicameral legislature, single state votes, no President, no Judiciary, and no federal power to enforce taxation or maintain a standing army.

Federalist No. 10

An essay written by James Madison on November 22, 1787, arguing that a large, united republic controls the dangers of factions better than individual states by representing a wider variety of opinions.

Brutus No. 1

An Anti-Federalist essay published on October 18, 1787, asserting that a large republic would cause people to sacrifice their liberties and arguing that a Bill of Rights was necessary to limit Congress's broad powers over taxation, armies, and the Elastic Clause.

Federalist No. 51

An essay written by James Madison on February 8, 1788, proposing a government divided into Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches with separate powers and checks and balances to preserve liberty and control factions.

Federalist No. 70

An essay written by Alexander Hamilton on March 15, 1788, arguing for a single, energetic executive branch to ensure decision, activity, secrecy, dispatch, and accountability, balanced against a slower, deliberative Congress.

Federalist No. 78

An essay written by Alexander Hamilton on May 28, 1788, describing the Judiciary as the weakest branch and advocating for life tenure during good behavior to maintain judicial independence and practice judicial review.

Letter From a Birmingham Jail

Written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 16, 1963; argues that the oppressed have a moral duty to fight for justice through nonviolent direct action, asserts that immoral segregation laws are unjust, and invokes the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause.