US Gov required docs, court cases, and amendments

1st Amendment

1st Amendment

freedom of religion, speech, press, and petition

2nd Amendment

right to bear arms

3rd Amendment

quartering of soldiers

4th Amendment

protection from unreasonable searches, seizures, and arrests

5th Amendment

Rights of citizens when accused of crimes and due process of national government - established Miranda Rights

6th Amendment

process when citizen is accused of a crime

7th Amendment

right to trial by jury

8th Amendment

protection from cruel and unusual punishment and excessive bail

9th Amendment

If there are other rights not mentioned in the Bill of Rights, they are still protected

10th Amendment

Any powers not explicitly granted to federal government are given to the states

14th Amendment

Due process of state government and equal protections clause; citizenship for minorities and naturalization

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

mandatory prayer in schools violates religion establishment clause; upheld individual religious liberty

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Forcing Amish kids to go to public school violates religion free exercise clause; upheld individual religious liberty

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Students wearing armbands to protest Vietnam war; students do have free speech in school, symbolic speech is protected

Schenck v. United States (1919)

Convicted for encouraging draft-dodging; conviction was constitutional. Established limits to free speech (time, manner, place; defamation; clear and present danger)

NYT v. US (1971)

Pentagon papers leaked by Nixon to NYT; Nixon invoked prior restraint. SCOTUS ruled that Freedom of Press is more important than prior restraint

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

Chicago’s restrictive gun laws are unconstitutional; Selectively incorporated 2nd Amendment to States

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Gideon had no lawyer to represent him; this case selectively incorporated the 6th Amendment (right to a defendant)

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson; desgregated schools; advanced civil liberties through application of 14th Amendment EPC

Baker v. Carr

Tennessee districts had not be reapportioned for 60 years, which led to unequal representation. This case banned malapportionment - one person, one vote.

Shaw v Reno

Banned racial gerrymandering and interpreted the constitution as colorblind.

Fed 10

A large republic is the best environment for democracy because all the factions will have competing interests and cancel each other out. These competing factions prevent tyranny of the majority.

Brutus 1

The Constitution is an overreach of governmental power; a large republic is bad because representatives will not be well-connected with constituents

Fed 51

separation of powers, checks and balances establish limited government even though the Constitution increases its power

Fed 70

Unitary executive is necessary so that they can make quick decisions in times of crisis and be held accountable by public opinion

Fed 78

Lifetime appointments for judges so they are free from politics; judicial review is necessary

15th Amendment

No denial of voting based on race

17th Amendment

Direct election of senators

19th Amendment

No denial of vote based on sex

22nd Amendment

2-term limit on Presidents

24th Amendment

Bans poll taxes

26th Amendment

lowers voting age to 18

US v. Lopez

Guns in school zones cannot be regulated by commerce clause; restricts federal power and broad interpretation of the clause

McCulloch v. Maryland

Federal Bank in Maryland cannot be subject to state taxes by Supremacy Clause; the establishment of the bank was constitutional due to the Elastic Clause

Declaration of Independence

natural and unalienable rights; social contact theory; popular sovereignty

Constitution

Article I: Legislative

Article II: President

Article III: Judiciary

IV: Relationship between state and federal gov’ts

V: Amendment process

VI: supremacy of the Constitution over state laws

VII: Constitutional ratification process

Articles of Confederation

Federal government was too weak because they couldn’t tax, raise an army, and amendments couldn’t happen without unanimous agreement of the states

- Shay’s Rebellion exposed the weaknesses of it

Letter from Birmingham Jail

MLK argues for civil rights and protection for all Americans based on the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th Amendment