Supreme Court Cases

1. Marbury v. Madison (1803)

-Judicial Review, Federalism At the end of President John Adams’ term, his Secretary of State failed to deliver documents commissioning William Marbury as Justice of the Peace in the District of Columbia. Once President Thomas Jefferson was sworn in, in order to keep members of the opposing political party from taking office, he told James Madison, his Secretary of State, to not deliver the documents to Marbury. Marbury then sued James Madison asking the Supreme Court to issue a writ requiring him to deliver the documents necessary to officially make Marbury Justice of the Peace. The Marbury v. Madison decision resulted in establishment of the concept of judicial review.

2. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

State Taxes, Supremacy Clause

The U.S. government created the first national bank for the country in 1791, a time during which a national bank was controversial due to competition, corruption, and the perception that the federal government was becoming too powerful. Maryland attempted to close the Baltimore branch of the national bank by passing a law that forced all banks that were created outside of the state to pay a yearly tax. James McCulloch, a branch employee, refused to pay the tax. The State of Maryland sued McCulloch saying that Maryland had the power to tax any business in its state and that the Constitution does not give Congress the power to create a national bank. McCulloch was convicted and fined, but he appealed the decision. The Supreme Court determined that Congress has implied powers that allow it to create a national bank, even though the Constitution does not explicitly state that power, and that Maryland’s taxing of its branches was unconstitutional.

6. Schenck v United States (1919)

Freedom of Speech, Clear and Present Danger

Defendant mailed fliers to draftees during WWI urging them to protest the craft peacefully. Was convicted of violating a federal law against encouraging the disobedience of military orders. Oliver Wendel Holmes wrote in the opinion that such speech was not protected during wartime because it would create a clear and present danger, establishing a standard for measuring what would and would not be protected speech. The question before the Court was the line between the effect of freedom of speech and national draft orders.

9. Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

School Segregation, Equal Protection, 14th Amendment

In Topeka, Kansas in the 1950s, schools were segregated by race. Each day, Linda Brown and her sister had to walk through a dangerous railroad switchyard to get to the bus stop for the ride to their all-black elementary school. There was a school closer to the Brown's house, but it was only for white students. Linda Brown and her family believed that the segregated school system violated the Fourteenth Amendment and took their case to court. Federal district court decided that segregation in public education was harmful to black children, but because all-black schools and all-white schools had similar buildings, transportation, curricula, and teachers, the segregation was legal. The Browns appealed their case to Supreme Court stating that even if the facilities were similar, segregated schools could never be equal to one another. The Court decided that state laws requiring separate but equal schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

10. Baker v. Carr (1961)

Reapportionment, equal representation

Charles W. Baker and other Tennessee citizens alleged that a 1901 law designed to apportion the seats for the state's General Assembly was virtually ignored. Baker's suit detailed how Tennessee's reapportionment efforts ignored significant economic growth and population shifts within the state. The result of this case 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.

12. Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Freedom of Religion, Establishment Clause

The case was brought by the families of public school students in New Hyde Park, New York who complained that the voluntary prayer to "Almighty God" contradicted their religious beliefs. The prayer in question was: Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country. Amen. The plaintiffs argued that opening the school day with such a prayer violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In an opinion delivered by Justice Hugo Black, the Court ruled that government-written prayers were not to be recited in public schools and were an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause.

13. Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Right to Counsel, Due Process, 6th Amendment

In June 1961, a burglary occurred at the Bay Harbor Pool Room in Panama City, FL. Police arrested Clarence Earl Gideon after he was found nearby with a pint of wine and some change in his pockets. Gideon, who could not afford a lawyer, asked a Florida Circuit Court judge to appoint one for him arguing that the Sixth Amendment entitles everyone to a lawyer. The judge denied his request and Gideon was left to represent himself. He did a poor job of defending himself and was found guilty of breaking and entering and petty larceny. While serving his sentence in a Florida state prison, Gideon began studying law, which reaffirmed his belief his rights were violated when the Florida Circuit Court refused his request for counsel. From his prison cell, he handwrote a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case and it agreed. The Court unanimously ruled in Gideon’s favor, stating that the Sixth Amendment requires state courts to provide attorneys for criminal defendants who cannot otherwise afford counsel.

17. Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Student Speech, Symbolic Speech, 1st Amendment

John and Mary Beth Tinker of Des Moines, Iowa, wore black armbands to their public school as a symbol of protest against American involvement in the Vietnam War. When school authorities asked that the Tinkers remove their armbands, they refused and were subsequently suspended. The Supreme Court decided that the Tinkers had the right to wear the armbands, with Justice Abe Fortas stating that no one expects students to “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

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

1st Amendment: Speech, Press and Assembly

The Nixon Administration attempted to prevent the New York Times and Washington Post from publishing materials belonging to a classified Defense Department study regarding the United States activities in Vietnam. The President argued that prior restraint was necessary to protect National Security. The Court ruled that the government violated the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of the press when it attempted to stop newspaper publication of classified documents about the Vietnam War.

19. Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Free Exercise of Religion, Free Exercise Clause

Jonas Yoder, Wallace Miller and Adin Yutzy, members of the Amish religion, were prosecuted under a Wisconsin law that required all children to attend public schools until age 16. The three parents refused to send their children to school after eighth grade, arguing that high school attendance was contrary to their religious beliefs. The court determined that individual’s interest in the free exercise of religion under the 1st amendment protected the parents right to not compel their children to go to school beyond the eighth grade.

29. Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Reapportionment, Majority Minority Districts, Racial Gerrymandering

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

30. U.S. v. Lopez (1994)

2nd Amendment, Right to Carry Gun Laws, Commerce Clause

Alfonzo Lopez, a 12th grade student, carried a concealed weapon to his high school. He was charged with illegal firearm possession under Texas law. The next day federal agents charged Lopez with violating a federal criminal statute, the Gun- Free School Zones Act of 1990. The Supreme Court ruled that Congress did not have the authority to create gun-free school zones under the Commerce Clause.

34. McDonald v Chicago (2010)

2nd Amendment, Gun Control, Selective Incorporation

Several suits were filed against Chicago and Oak Park in Illinois challenging their gun bans after the Supreme Court issued its opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller. Plaintiffs argued that the Second Amendment should also apply to the states. The court ruled that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense is applicable to the states.

35. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

Campaign Finance, Super PACs, 1st Amendment, Money = Speech

The Court struck down parts of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which put limits on corporate funding for campaigns from corporations and labor unions. The Court held that free speech was essential in a free society, and that speech was not less protected because the speaker was a corporation, labor union, or other organization. The Court upheld disclosure requirements for political advertising sponsors, and also kept in place a ban on direct contributions to candidates from corporations and unions.