AP Gov Supreme Court Cases - Abner

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Established judicial review; "midnight judges;" John Marshall; power of the Supreme Court.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Established national supremacy; established implied powers; use of elastic clause; state unable to tax fed. Institution; John Marshall; "the power to tax involves the power to destroy."

U.S. v. Lopez (1995)

Gun Free School Zones Act exceeded Congress' authority to regulate interstate commerce.

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

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

Gideon v. Wainright (1963)

Ordered states to provide lawyers for those unable to afford them in criminal proceedings. Warren Court's judicial activism in criminal rights.

Schenck V. U.S. (1919)

Oliver Wendell Holmes; clear and present danger test; shouting "fire" in a crowded theater; limits on speech, esp. in wartime.

Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969)

Students have the right to symbolic speech at school as long as it is not disruptive (students wore black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War)

New York TImes Co. v. United States [Pentagon Papers] (1971)

The Nixon Administration tried to prevent the NY Times and Washington Post from publishing the "Pentagon Papers", a classified Defense Department study on US activities in Vietnam. The Court held that the government did not overcome the "heavy presumption against" prior restraint of the press, with Justices Black and Douglas arguing that "security" cannot be used to abrogate First Amendment rights, and Justice Brennan reasoning that publication would not cause immediate harm to American forces, making prior restraint unjustified.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Jonas Yoder and others, members of the Old Order Amish, refused to send their children to public schools after 8th grade, citing religious beliefs. The Court unanimously held that Wisconsin's law requiring school attendance until age 16 violated the First Amendment, as individual interests in free exercise of religion outweighed state interests. The majority opinion found that secondary school values conflicted with Amish values, and additional education would not justify the law; Justice Douglas partially dissented but joined the majority regarding Yoder.

McDonald v. City of Chicago

The Court held that the right of an individual to "keep and bear arms" protected by the 2nd Amendment is incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment and applies to the states. The decision cleared up the uncertainty left in the wake of District of Columbia v. Heller as to the scope of gun rights in regard to the states.

Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (2010)

Citizens United challenged the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) restrictions on corporate-funded electioneering communications. The Supreme Court held that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts cannot be limited under the First Amendment, overturning previous decisions. The majority ruled that political speech is essential to democracy, regardless of corporate identity, and upheld BCRA's disclosure requirements as constitutional, providing the electorate with information on election-related spending.

Baker v. Carr (1962)

"One man, one vote." Ordered state legislative districts to be as near equal as possible in population; Warren Court's political judicial activism.

Brown v. Board, 1st (1954)

School segregation unconstitutional; segregation psychologically damaging to blacks; overturned separate but equal; use of 14th Amendment; judicial activism of Warren Court; unanimous decision.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Established national abortion guidelines; trimester guidelines: no state interference in 1st, state may regulate to protect health of mother in 2nd, state may regulate to protect health of unborn child in 3rd. Inferred from right of privacy estab. in Griswald v. Conn.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

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