AP US Government Required Supreme Court Cases

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key required Supreme Court cases, constitutional clauses, and legal doctrines from the lecture notes.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

A landmark case ruling that Congress had implied powers under the Necessary & Proper Clause to charter the Second Bank of the United States, and that Maryland could not tax the bank due to the Supremacy Clause.

Baker v. Carr (1962)

A case ruling that challenges to legislative apportionment can be heard by federal courts under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, leading to the development of the 'one person, one vote' doctrine.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

A case holding that an unusually shaped majority-minority district in North Carolina demonstrated racial gerrymandering, establishing that districting can be challenged under the Equal Protection Clause if race is the sole factor in its creation.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

A pivotal case arising from an undelivered judicial commission that established the practice of judicial review when the Court declared a provision of the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

A landmark decision ruling that racial segregation in public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because 'separate but equal is inherently unequal,' overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

A ruling that state-sponsored, voluntary, non-denominational prayer in public schools violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

A ruling holding that compelling Amish parents to send their children to school past the 8th grade violated their rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.

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

A case ruling that students retain First Amendment free speech rights at school to engage in symbolic protest, such as wearing black armbands, unless the speech substantially interferes with school operations.

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

A Supreme Court decision in the Pentagon Papers case establishing a 'heavy presumption against prior restraint' by the government, even when national security concerns are cited.

Schenck v. United States (1919)

A decision holding that distributing anti-draft leaflets during World War I violated the Espionage Act of 1917, establishing that First Amendment free speech does not protect advocacy of unlawful behavior.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

A Supreme Court ruling that incorporated the Sixth Amendment's right to legal counsel to state court felony defendants through the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

A ruling establishing that a woman's right to an abortion is protected under a broad right of privacy implicit in the Fourteenth Amendment, as clarified in Griswold v. Connecticut.

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

A $5-4$ decision ruling Chicago's handgun ban unconstitutional by selectively incorporating the Second Amendment individual right to bear arms to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause.

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

A landmark case establishing that political spending by corporations and unions is protected political speech under the First Amendment, invalidating spending limits in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 and giving rise to Super PACs.

United States v. Lopez (1995)

A case involving Alfonzo Lopez, a Texas high school senior charged for possessing a concealed weapon in violation of the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990. The Supreme Court ruled the Act unconstitutional, stating it exceeded powers under the Commerce Clause as carrying a gun in a school zone did not substantially affect interstate commerce, thus reinforcing state rights and limiting Congress's power.