US Supreme Court

Marbury and Madison 1803

Supreme court granted themselves the power of judicial review- to declare acts of congress/executive unconstitutional

Fletcher v Peck 1810

Supreme court ruled against state law, extending their power of judicial review to the states

SC hears — cases per year

1%

2022-2023 — cases decided

58

independence of the supreme court

separation of powers

security of tenure

protected salary

senate ratifies appointments

Ruth Bader Ginsburg died — replaced with —

2020

Amy Coney Barratt

Trump nominated 3 justices

Brett Kavanaugh

Neil Gorsuch

Amy Coney Barratt

Obama nominated 2 (attempted 3)

Sonia Sotomayor

Elena Kagan

Attempted Merrick Garland- senate refused to hear

ABA ratings

American bar Association- interest group

judge supreme court nominees

Clarence Thomas- only current SC justice considered just ‘qualified’

Controversy in Brett Kavanaughs trial

2018 allegations of sexual misconduct

Ruth Bader Ginsburg senate floor vote 1993

96-3

Clarence Thomas senate floor vote 1991

52-48

Amy Coney Barrett nomination process controversy

35 days- shortest in history- trump wanted to push nomination through against convention because it was 6 weeks before the election

Ketanji Brown Jackson senate floor vote

53-47

Bush withdraw nomination —

Harriet Myers 2005

inexperienced

Obamas nomination Merrick Garland 2016

Senate refused to hear the nomination because it was close to an election

Trumps appointments to the SC may have been influenced by —

federalist society who provided a shortlist of ideal candidates

After Dobbs v Jackson 2022, Republican senators criticised Gorsuch and Kavanaugh —

as their ruling didn’t reflect the answers during senate hearings

Department of Homeland v Texas 2024

federal government removed some of the razor wire on the Texas/Mexico border- against states rights

Obergefell v Hodges 2015

ruled gay marriage was protected under the 14th amendment

strict constructionist

stick to the exact wording of the constitution

loose constructionist

interpret the wording relative to the context/case

Judicial restraint

reluctant to overturn elected bodies/establish judicial precedent

Judicial activism

apply their own personal ideology and give rulings which overturn elected politicians, set judicial precedent

Examples of judicial activism

Obergefell v Hodges 2015

Roe V Wade 1973

Brown V Board 1954

National federation of independent businesses V Sebelius 2012

ruled it was constitutional for Affordable care act 2010 to require everyone to have healthcare by 2014

Roe V Wade 1973

ruled the 14th amendment protected a women’s right to chose to have an abortion

Dobbs v Jackson 2022

overturned Roe v Wade

Impacts of the supreme court on public policy

uphold constitutionality- protects policy

strike down the constitutionality- overturns policy

set new policy via judicial interpretation

Examples of upholding the constitutionality of a case

Trump v Hawaii 2018

Brnovich v DNC 2021

Trump v Hawaii 2018

upheld trumps travel bans from 3 predominantly Muslim countries

Brnovich v DNC 2021

Upheld Arizona voting laws prohibiting ballot harvesting and out-of-precinct voting

Examples of striking down the constitutionality of a case

Citizens United V FEC 2010

Dobbs v Jackson 2022

Biden v Texas 2022

Citizens United V FEC 2010

Ruled BCRA 2002 unconstitutional in favor of 1st amendment

Dobbs v Jackson 2022

ruled Roe v Wade unconstitutional

Biden v Texas 2022

Struck down constitutionality of Trumps ‘remain in Mexico programme’ allowing Biden to overturn it

Examples of the Supreme court setting new precedent

Obergefell v Hodges 2015

Roe v Wade 1973

Bostock v Clayton 2020

Bostock v Clayton 2020

Civil rights act provided employment protection rights

1st amendment

freedom of speech/expression

example of SC protecting freedom of expression

Fulton v Philadelphia 2021

catholic groups are allowed to hold religious views about homosexuality by refusing to provide state adoption services to gay couples

examples of SC upholding freedom on speech

Citizens united v FEC 2010

Ruled BRCA 2002 unconstitutional because it limited campaigning in the month before the election

2nd amendment

right to bare arms

example of the supreme court upholding the 2nd amendment

District of Columbia v Heller 2008

ruled a District of Columbia law banning the ownership of handguns was unconstitutional

Example of the SC upholding the 2nd amendment (2)

Caetano v Massachusetts 2016

interpreted the means of ‘arms’ to include stun gun

4th amendment

right to privacy

example of the sc upholding the 4th amendment

Riley V California 2014

ruled the police couldn’t search a cell phone without a warrant

5th amendment

right to silence

example of sc upholding the 5th amendment

Miranda v Arizona 1966

Miranda confessed to a rape unaware they had the constitutional right to remain silent

8th amendment

freedom from cruel and unjust punishment

example of sc upholding 8th amendment

Glossip v Gross 2015

lethal injections involving ‘midazolam’ wasn’t a constitutionally cruel punishment

10th amendment

states rights

example of sc upholding 10th amendment

Shelby v Holder 2013

ruled section 4 of voting rights act 1965 unconstitutional because it infringed on states rights

14th amendment

equal treatment clause

interpretation of 14th amendment

‘due process’ clause

‘equal treatment clause’

most common decision of the Roberts court

9-0

Living constitution

belief that the constitution is an evolutionary document that can change over time through interpretation by the supreme court

Originalism

the belief that interpretation of the constitution should be based off the intended meaning of the founding fathers

Affirmative action

programmes, schemes and actions that seek to give minority groups a head start in key areas of public life

Regents of University California v Bakke 1978

ruled against the use of racial quotas but upheld affirmative action as constitutional

Gratz v Bollinger 2003

ruled against the University of Michigans affirmative action programme as it was too mechanistic

1960-1995 the number of 25-29 year old university graduate increased from — to —

5% to 15%

Voting Rights act

1965- bans literacy tests and enforces 15th amendment

15th amendment

1870- gives AA men the right to vote

Women get right to vote

1920

Biden attempted to pass —

Freedom to vote act and John Lewis voting rights act 2021- passed lower chamber but senate refused to pass

2023 — states enacted — restrictive voting laws

14 states

17 restrictive voting laws

2023 — states enacted — expansive voting laws

23 states

53 expansive voting laws

Idaho ruled student ID isn’t an acceptable form of ID in an election

2023

Race rights interest groups

NARF

NAACP

BLM

Methods used by race rights interest groups

Litigation

Protests

Get out the vote campaign

voting rights limited by

gerrymandering

literacy tests

felony voting restrictions

117th congress makeup

23% minority

27% women

118th congress makeup

28% women

75% white

Example of NAACP

2020 election they contacted 675,000 in swing states

American civil liberties union found that since Shelby — anti-voter bills have been introduced in — states

400

38

first AA president —

first AA VP —

Obama 2008

Kamala Harris 2020

Democrat approach to immigration

DREAM act

DAPA & DACA

Republican approach to immigration

pledge to ‘build a wall’

opposed DACA and DAPA

‘remain in Mexico’ policy