Required AP US Government Supreme Court Cases

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Established supremacy of the U.S. Constitution and federal laws over state laws. Based on Supremacy Clause.

United States v. Lopez (1995)

Congress may not use the commerce clause to make possession of a gun in a school zone a federal crime.

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

School sponsorship of religious activities violates the establishment clause

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Compelling Amish students to attend school past the eighth grade violates the free exercise clause

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)

Public school students have the

right to wear black armbands in school to protest the Vietnam War, 1st amendment symbolic speech.

New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)

Bolstered the freedom of the press, establishing a

"heavy presumption against prior restraint" even in cases involving national security

Schenck v. United States (1919)

Speech creating a "clear and present danger" is not protected by the First Amendment

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Guaranteed the right to an attorney for the poor or indigent in a state felony case, 6th amendment-right to counsel

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Extended the right of privacy to a woman's decision to have an abortion, right to privacy implied by the bill of rights (3,4,5 &9)

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense is applicable to the states

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Race-based school segregation violates the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

Political spending by corporations,

associations and labor unions is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment

Baker v. Carr (1961)

Opened the door to equal protection challenges to redistricting and the

development of the "one person, one vote" doctrine by ruling that challenges to redistricting did not raise "political questions" that would keep federal courts from reviewing such challenges. 14th amendment equal protection clause.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Majority minority districts, created under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, may be

constitutionally challenged by voters if race is the only factor used in creating the district

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Established the principle of judicial review empowering the Supreme

Court to nullify an act of the legislative or executive branch that violates the Constitution