AP Gov required supreme court cases

McCulloch v Maryland (1819)

Key Principle:Supremacy Clause

Summary:Confirmed the right of Congress to utilize implied powers to carry out its expressed powers. Validated the supremacy of the national government over the states by declaring that states cannot interfere with or tax the legitimate activities of the federal government.

United States v Lopez (1995)

Key Principle: Commerce Clause

Summary: Gun Free School Zones Act exceeded Congress' authority to regulate interstate commerce.The Court ruled that Congress did not have the authority under the Commerce Clause to outlaw guns near schools.

Baker v Carr (1962)

Key Principle: 14th Amendment - Equal Protection Clause

Summary: Decided that redistricting (attempts to change the way voting districts are delineated) issues present justiciable questions, thus enabling federal courts to intervene in and to decide redistricting cases. Ordered state legislative districts to be as equal as possible.

Shaw v Reno (1993)

Key Principle: 14th Amendment - Equal Protection Clause

Summary: A case involving gerrymandering, redistricting based on race must be held to a standard of strict scrutiny under the equal protection clause - No racial gerrymandering. Race cannot be the sole or predominant factor in redrawing legislative boundaries. Majority-Minority districts.

Marbury v Madison (1803)

Key Principle: Article III- Judicial Review

Summary: Established the principle of judicial review. Strengthened the power of the Judicial branch by giving the Supreme Court the authority to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.

Engle v Vitale (1962)

Key Principle: 1st Amendment - Establishment Clause

Summary: Struck down state-sponsored prayer in public school. Ruled that this was an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause.

Wisconsin v Yoder (1972)

Key Principle: 1st Amendment - Free Exercise Clause

Summary: Dealt with the Amish community’s desire to pull their children from public school before the age of 16 so that they could help with farm and domestic work. The Court sided with the Amish and held that the parents' fundamental right to freedom of religion was determined to outweigh the state's interest in educating its children

Tinker v Des Moines (1969)

Key Principle: 1st Amendment- Freedom of Speech (Symbolic Speech)

 Summary: Protected some forms of symbolic speech. Ruled that students do not “shed their constitutional rights” to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate. Schools forbidding the wearing of armbands is a violation
of symbolic speech

Schneck v United States (1919)

Key Principle: 1st Amendment – Free Speech

 Summary: The defendant who handed out anti-draft pamphlets during World War I was not protected under the first Amendment because it created a “clear and present danger.” Established the “clear and present danger” test to define conditions under which public authorities can limit free speech.

New York Times v U.S (1971)

Key Principle: 1st Amendment – Freedom of Press

 Summary: Government can almost never use prior restraint. Protections for the press were established here. The ruling made it possible for newspapers to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers without risk of government censorship or punishment. Court held that executive efforts to prevent the publication violated the 1st Amendment