AP Government - Required Supreme Court Cases

McCulloch v Maryland

McCulloch v Maryland

1. Constitutional issue: Article 1, necessary and proper clause

2. Basics of the case: 1819--The Court ruled that states cannot tax the federal government, i.e. the Bank of the United States; the phrase "the power to tax is the power to destroy"; confirmed the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States.

United States v Lopez

1. Constitutional issue: Article 1, Commerce Clause

2. Basics of the case: Gun Free School Zones Act exceeded Congress' authority to regulate interstate commerce.

New York Times Co v United States

1. Constitutional issue: 1st amendment, freedom of the press

2. Basics of the case: Pentagon Papers revealed the extent of the involvement of the US in Vietnam, and the New York Times published the papers. Nixon attempted and failed to prevent them from being published.

Roe v Wade

1. Constitutional issue: 14th amendment, right to privacy

2. Basics of the case: 1973 ruling that decriminalized abortion.

Citizens United v Federal Elections Commission

1. Constitutional issue: 1st amendment, corporate funding independent of political broadcast can’t be limited

2. Basics of the case: In an attempt to regulate "big money" campaign contributions, the BCRA applies a variety of restrictions to "electioneering communications." Under the First Amendment corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited.

Baker v Carr

1. Constitutional issue: 14th amendment, gerrymandering

2. Basics of the case: "One man, one vote." Ordered state legislative districts to be as near equal as possible in population; Warren Court's judicial activism.

Shaw v Reno

1. Constitutional issue: 14th amendment equal protection due to race, gerrymandering

2. Basics of the case: No racial gerrymandering; race cannot be the sole or predominant factor in redrawing legislative boundaries; majority-minority districts.

Marbury v Madison

1. Constitutional issue: Article III, judicial review

2. Basics of the case: 1803 established the principle of judicial review

Engel v Vitale

1. Constitutional issue: 1st amendment, establishment clause

2. Basics of the case: Prohibited state-sponsored recitation of prayer in public schools by virtue of 1st Amendment's establishment clause and the 14th Amendment's due process clause; Warren Court's judicial activism.

Schenck v United States

1. Constitutional issue: 1st amendment, gov can limit freedoms during wartime for national security

2. Basics of the case: 1919--Case involving limits on free speech. Established the "clear and present danger" principle.

McDonald v Chicago

1. Constitutional issue: 2nd amendment protections due to 14th amendment

2. Basics of the case: Several suits were filed against Chicago and Oak Park in Illinois challenging their gun bans after the Supreme Court issued another decision on an earlier case. The Fourteenth Amendment makes the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense applicable to the states.

Wisconsin v Yoder

1. Constitutional issue: 1st amendment relating to attending school

2. Basics of the case: Yoder was prosecuted under Wisconsin law that required all children to attend public schools until age 16, argued that high school attendance was contrary to their religious beliefs. Court held that individual's interests in the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment outweighed State's interests in compelling school attendance beyond 8th grade.

Tinker v De Moines

1. Constitutional issue: 1st amendment, student free speech

2. Basics of the case: Guaranteed a student's right to protest (wearing armbands).

Gideon v Wainwright

1. Constitutional issue: 6th amendment, right of assistance to counsel

2. Basics of the case: 1963 ruling that a defendant in a felony trial must be provided a lawyer free of charge if the defendant cannot afford one.

Brown v Board of Education

1. Constitutional issue: 14th amendment, equal protection clause

2. Basics of the case: 1954 case that overturned Separate but Equal standard of discrimination in education.