Poli Sci

1st Amendment

Freedom of religion speech press assembly and petition

2nd Amendment

Right to keep and bear arms

3rd Amendment

Protection against quartering soldiers in private homes

4th Amendment

Protection against unreasonable searches and seizures

5th Amendment

Right to due process protection against self-incrimination double jeopardy and government taking property without just compensation

6th Amendment

Right to a speedy public trial an impartial jury an attorney and to confront witnesses

7th Amendment

Right to a jury trial in federal civil cases

8th Amendment

Protection against excessive bail excessive fines and cruel and unusual punishment

9th Amendment

People have rights beyond those specifically listed in the Constitution

10th Amendment

Powers not given to the federal government or prohibited to the states are reserved to the states or the people

11th Amendment

Limits federal judicial power over lawsuits against states by citizens of another state or foreign country

12th Amendment

Requires separate Electoral College votes for president and vice president

13th Amendment

Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for a crime

14th Amendment

Established citizenship equal protection and due process and prohibited states from denying these rights

15th Amendment

Prohibited denying the right to vote based on race color or previous condition of servitude

16th Amendment

Authorized a federal income tax

17th Amendment

Established direct election of U.S. senators by the people

18th Amendment

Prohibited the manufacture sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages

19th Amendment

Prohibited denying the right to vote based on sex

20th Amendment

Changed the start dates of presidential and congressional terms and addressed presidential succession before inauguration

21st Amendment

Repealed the 18th Amendment and ended Prohibition

22nd Amendment

Limited presidents to two elected terms

23rd Amendment

Gave Washington D.C. electoral votes in presidential elections

24th Amendment

Prohibited poll taxes in federal elections

25th Amendment

Established procedures for presidential succession and for dealing with presidential inability

26th Amendment

Lowered the voting age to 18

27th Amendment

Prohibits congressional pay changes from taking effect until after the next electio

Article I

Legislative Branch

Article II

Executive Branch

Article III

Judicial Branch

Article IV

States and Federalism

Article V

Amendment Process

Article VI

Federal Supremacy

Article VII

Ratification

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Established judicial review and gave federal courts power to strike down unconstitutional laws;

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Established implied federal powers and held states cannot tax the federal government;

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

Broadly interpreted Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce;

Barron v. Baltimore (1833)

Held the Bill of Rights originally applied only to the federal government;

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

Held Black Americans were not citizens and Congress could not ban slavery in the territories;

Slaughter-House Cases (1873)

Narrowly interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause;

United States v. E. C. Knight Co. (1895)

Limited federal power over manufacturing under the Commerce Clause;

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Upheld racial segregation under the doctrine of separate but equal;

Lochner v. New York (1905)

Struck down a labor law using substantive due process and freedom of contract;

Schenck v. United States (1919)

Upheld limits on speech creating a clear and present danger to national security;

Gitlow v. New York (1925)

Applied First Amendment free speech protection to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment;

Near v. Minnesota (1931)

Strongly protected freedom of the press against prior restraint;

West Coast Hotel v. Parrish (1937)

Upheld minimum wage laws and helped end the Lochner era;

United States v. Carolene Products (1938)

Introduced the idea that some laws deserve stronger judicial scrutiny especially those affecting fundamental rights or minorities;

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Held racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional;

Bolling v. Sharpe (1954)

Held racial segregation in Washington D.C. schools unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment;

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Applied the exclusionary rule to the states;

Baker v. Carr (1962)

Allowed federal courts to hear challenges to legislative districting;

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Banned government sponsored prayer in public schools;

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Required states to provide lawyers to indigent defendants in serious criminal cases;

Abington School District v. Schempp (1963)

Banned organized Bible reading in public schools;

New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)

Required public officials to prove actual malice in defamation cases;

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

Recognized a constitutional right to marital privacy;

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Required police to inform suspects of key constitutional rights before custodial interrogation;

Loving v. Virginia (1967)

Struck down bans on interracial marriage;

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Protected student speech unless it substantially disrupts school;

Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)

Protected inflammatory speech unless it is intended and likely to produce imminent lawless action;

Furman v. Georgia (1972)

Temporarily halted the death penalty because its application was arbitrary;

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Recognized a constitutional right to abortion under the right to privacy;

Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

Treated campaign spending as protected speech but allowed limits on direct contributions;

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)

Limited racial quotas in university admissions but allowed race as one admissions factor;

Texas v. Johnson (1989)

Held flag burning is protected symbolic speech;

Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)

Reaffirmed Roe's core protection but allowed regulations without an undue burden;

United States v. Lopez (1995)

Limited Congress's Commerce Clause power;

Bush v. Gore (2000)

Ended the Florida recount and effectively decided the 2000 presidential election;

Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

Struck down laws criminalizing private consensual homosexual conduct;

McConnell v. FEC (2003)

Upheld major portions of federal campaign finance restrictions;

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)

Held the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm;

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

Held corporations and unions may make unlimited independent political expenditures;

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

Applied the Second Amendment to the states;

NFIB v. Sebelius (2012)

Upheld the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate as a tax but limited the Medicaid expansion;

Shelby County v. Holder (2013)

Struck down the Voting Rights Act's coverage formula for federal preclearance;

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014)

Allowed some closely held corporations to claim religious exemptions from federal regulations;

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

Established a constitutional right to same sex marriage;

Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt (2016)

Struck down abortion regulations that imposed substantial burdens without sufficient benefits;

Trump v. Hawaii (2018)

Upheld the Trump administration's travel restrictions under broad presidential immigration authority;

Janus v. AFSCME (2018)

Held public employees cannot be forced to pay union fees for nonmember political activities;

Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020)

Held states cannot exclude religious schools from generally available public benefit programs solely because they are religious;

Bostock v. Clayton County (2020)

Held Title VII protects workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity;

Trump v. United States (2024)

Held presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts;

Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (2024)

Overruled Chevron deference and limited courts' automatic deference to federal agencies;

Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023)

Struck down race conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina;

West Virginia v. EPA (2022)

Limited broad agency power under the major questions doctrine;

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

Overruled Roe and held the Constitution does not guarantee a federal right to abortion;

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022)

Strengthened Second Amendment protections and required gun regulations to fit historical tradition;

Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (2022)

Expanded protection for religious exercise and rejected the older Lemon test;

Moore v. Harper (2023)

Rejected the strongest version of the independent state legislature theory and held state courts may review state election laws;

Trump v. Anderson (2024)

Held states cannot unilaterally remove presidential candidates from the ballot under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment;

Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (2024)

Ended Chevron deference and required courts to exercise independent judgment when interpreting ambiguous statutes;

United States v. Rahimi (2024)

Upheld temporary firearm restrictions for people subject to domestic violence restraining orders;

Trump v. United States (2024)

Recognized presidential immunity for official acts but not unofficial acts;

U.S. GDP

$30.9 trillion

Federal spending

$7.0 trillion

Federal revenue

$5.2 trillion

Federal deficit

$1.8 trillion