AP US Government and Politics: Court Cases to Know

(Some are class specific, others are AP specific. Will be specified.) #apgov #rooney #rooneyhw #pollofc #greenmachine #scioly

Marbury v. Madison (1803) (AP)

(Judicial Review) Established the Supreme Court’s power of Judicial Review (the power to determine the constitutionality of laws); The Marshall Court; Advancing the power of the Judicial Branch.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) (AP)

(National Supremacy) Helped establish the supremacy of the national government over the states; established the existence of “implied powers,” use of the elastic clause (to create a national bank); The Marshall Court.

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

(National Supremacy) Helped establish the supremacy of the national government over the states; supported The Commerce Clause - Congress regulates trade between states (interstate commerce); The Marshall Court.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

(Discrimination) 5th Amendment - Slave owners can not be deprived of “property” w/o “due process of law”; invalidated the Missouri Compromise; victory for “State-Righters.”

Reynolds v. U.S. (1878)

(Freedom of Religion) Ruled that religious duty is not a sufficient defense against criminal charges of polygamy; the First Amendment, free-exercise clause does not protect polygamy as a religious practice.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

(Discrimination) Established that the “separate but equal” doctrine did not violate the 14th Amendment’s equal-protection clause; legal separation.

Schenck v. United States (1919) (AP)

(Freedom of Speech) Established the “Clear and present danger” test to determine limits on free speech; shouting “fire” in a crowded theater; created the precedent of legal limits on free speech, especially in times of war/crisis.

Gitlow v. New York (1925)

(Incorporation) Established precedent of applying the Bill of Rights to the states (incorporation); states cannot deny freedom of speech - protected through Due Process Clause/ Equal-Protection clauses of the 14th Amendment.

Korematsu v. United States (1944)

(Discrimination) 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause; WWII - Japanese internment did not violate the Constitution.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) (AP)

(Discrimination) School segregation deemed unconstitutional, based on the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause; “Judicial Activism” of the Warren Court; overturned Plessy’s “separate but equal.”

Brown v. Board of Education 2nd (1955)

(Discrimination) Ordered schools to desegregate “with all due and deliberate speed.”

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

(Defendant’s Rights) 4th Amendment and 14th Amendment; established the exclusionary rule in state courts; “exclusionary rule”: illegally obtained evidence cannot be used in court; “Judicial Activism” of the Warren Court.

Engel v. Vitale (1962) (AP)

(Establishment Clause) Struck down mandatory school prayer as a violation of the 1st amendment’s Establishment Clause; prayer in school is allowed if voluntary, but not mandatory; “Judicial Activism” of the Warren Court.

Baker v. Carr (1962) (AP)

(Equal Representation) Ordered state legislative districts to be as equal as possible (in terms of population) during the reapportionment/re-districting process; the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause; “Judicial Activism” of the Warren Court.

Gideon v. Wainright (1963) (AP)

(Defendant’s Rights) Ordered states to provide lawyers for those unable to afford them in criminal proceedings; nationalized (incorporated) the 6th amendment via the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment; “Judicial Activism” of the Warren Court.

Wesberry (Grey) v. Sanders (1963)

(Equal Representation) Ordered the House of Representatives legislative districts to be as near in population as possible; extended Baker v. Carr (1962) to the national government.

New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)

(Freedom of the Press) Requires proof of “malicious intent to harm” in order to prove libel against news organizations.

Griswald v. Connecticut (1965)

(Right to Privacy) Established right of privacy through 4th and 9th Amendments; overturned a Connecticut law banning contraceptives; set a precedent for Roe v. Wade, 1973.

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

(Defendant’s Rights) Established Miranda warnings of counsel and silence; must be given before questioning a suspect; Warren Court’s “Judicial Activism” in criminal rights.

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) (AP)

(Freedom of Speech) Established the 1st Amendment protections of symbolic free speech - conduct that expresses an idea; symbolic speech in public schools could be punished, but only if it disrupts the educational process.

Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)

(Establishment Clause) 1st amendment case that established that any state funding given to a parochial school must be used for a secular (non-religious) purpose.

New York Times v. The United States (1971) (AP)

(Freedom of the Press) 1st Amendment - Freedom of the Press; Pentagon Papers; Government cannot stop publication of news stories unless “justification for the imposition of such restraint” is conclusively proven - e.g., national security - “clear and present danger.”

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) (AP)

(Free-Exercise Clause) Compelling Amish students to attend school past the eighth grade violates the free-exercise clause of the 1st amendment.

Roe v Wade (1973) (AP)

(Right to Privacy) Established a nationwide “right to choose” (abortion rights), inferred from the right to privacy established in Griswald v. Connecticut, 1965 via 4th and 9th Amendments.

U.S. v. Nixon (1974)

(Executive Privilege) Allowed for executive privilege, but not in criminal cases; “Even the President is not above the law”; re. Watergate; led to Nixon’s resignation.

Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

(Freedom of Speech) 1st Amendment protects campaign spending; legislature can limit contributions, but not how much a person spends of his/her own money on their own campaign.

U.C. Regents v. Bakke (1978)

(Affirmative Action) Strict admission quotas ruled unconstitutional, but states may allow race to be taken into account as ONE of several factors in admissions decisions.

New Jersey v. TLO (1978)

(Search & Seizure) Permits school officials to search student property with the standard of “reasonable suspicion.”

Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1987)

(Freedom of Press) Upheld the authority of public school administrators to censor student newspapers.

Texas v. Johnson (1989)

(Freedom of Expression) Flag burning protected as a form of free speech (“symbolic speech”); “Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea [because it is] offensive.”

Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)

(Right to Privacy) States can regulate abortion, but not with regulations that impose (undue burden: upon women; did not overturn Roe v. Wade, 1973, but gave states more leeway in regulating abortion (e.g., 24 hour waiting period, parental consent for minors).

Shaw v. Reno (1993) (AP)

(Equal Representation) No strict racial gerrymandering; race cannot be the sole of predominant factor in redrawing legislative boundaries; can be a factor, but the sole factor.

U.S. v. Lopez (1995) (AP)

(The Commerce Clause) The Gun Free School Zones Act was deemed unconstitutional, as it exceeded Congress’s authority to “regulate interstate commerce.” Limiting the government’s use of the Commerce Clause.

Bush v. Gore (2000)

(Equal Protection) Use of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause to stop the Florida recount in the election of 2000; example of the Supreme Court dealing with “political question.”

Kelo v. City of New London (2005)

(Eminent Domain) Upheld the right of governments to seize property to be used for the public good; “takings clause” of the 5th Amendment (eminent domain).

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)

(Right to Bear Arms) Struck down a DC law banning ownership of firearms; upheld the 2nd Amendment.

McDonald v. Chicago (2010) (AP)

(Right to Bear Arms) The 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense is applicable to the states; incorporation of the 2nd amendment.

Citizens United v. F.E.C. (2010) (AP)

(Freedom of Speech) Political spending by corporations, associations, and labor unions is a form of protected speech under the 1st amendment; it gave rise to “Super-PACs.”

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

(Equal Protection) Declared that any law denying same-sex couples the right to marry is in violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal-protection clause; legal same-sex marriage.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022)

(Right to Privacy) Overturned the decisions in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, finding that the right to have an abortion procedure does not exist in the federal Constitution; transferred abortion rights decisions to the individual states.

Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard/UNC (2023)

(Affirmative Action) Ruled that race-based admissions programs are unconstitutional, as a violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal-Protection Clause.