Required SCOTUS Cases (CLAUSE, FACT, HOLDING, SHIFT IN POWER)

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Constitution Clause/Amendment: Judicial Review (Can declare any part the law or presidential actions unconstitutional)

Facts: Marbury petitioned the Supreme Court and sued Madison for not delivering the documents under the Judiciary Act and petitioned for a writ of mandamus (do your job) to deliver these documents.

Holding: Marshall established the principle of Judicial Review, stating that the Judiciary Act was unconstitutional and could not deliver the documents.

Shift in Power: President & Congress → Supreme Court

McCulloch v Maryland (1819)

Clause/Amendment: Necessary & Proper Clause + Supremacy Clause

Facts: Congress created a federal bank in Maryland and Maryland taxed that bank.

Holding: Congress can and had the right to create a federal bank because they have put it somewhere (Necessary & Proper Clause). Maryland can not tax federal banks because federal laws are supreme over state laws.

Shift in Power: States → Congress

Brown v. Board of Education (1952)

Clause/Amendment: 14th Amendment, Equal Protection Clause. (Class Action Lawsuit)

Facts: Public schools were segregated, and Black students were denied admission to schools near their homes. Parents sued the Board of Education, arguing that segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Holding: Held that “separate but equal” public schools are inherently unequal, overturning the precedent set by Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Segregation in public education violates the Equal Protection Clause.

Shifts in Power: State/Local Government → People

Gideon V. Wainwright (1963)

Clause/Amendment: 6th Amendment (the right to an attorney in a felony case) — Incorporation (Bill of Rights Amendments that are made applicable to states through the Due Process Clause under the 14th Amendment)

Facts: Gideon was charged for stealing, he represented himself in court and was found guilty and sentenced. Gideon argued that being denied counsel from the 6th Amendment was violated.

Holding: Held that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel applies to the states through the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause (incorporation). Therefore, anyone facing a felony charge in state or federal court who cannot afford an attorney must be provided one.

Shift in Power: The States → People

Tinker v. Des Moines (1965)

Clause/Amendments: First Amendment — Symbolic Speech

Facts: Students sued the school for violating their right of symbol expression of wristbands in support of a truce in the Vietnam War after being disciplined.

Holding: The Supreme Court's majority ruled that neither students nor teachers “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

Shift in Power: States → People

United States v. Lopez (1994)

Clause/Amendment: Commerce Clause

Facts: Lopez had violated a federal criminal statue, The Gun-Free Zone Act, which forbids anyone of possessing a firearm in a school zone under the Commerce Clause

Holding: The Gun-Free School Zone Act was unconstitutional and exceeded Congresses’s authority under the Commerce Clause (Federal Overreach, should be left to State legislators + No Correlation)

Shift in Power: Congress → States (intruded state power)

Engel V. Vitale (1962)

Clause/Amendment: 1st Amendment — Establishment Clause

Facts: The NY state board authorized a prayer at the start of school each day, a group challenged the prayer claiming violation of the Establishment Clause (government MUST remain NEUTRAL).

Holding: The States financing a religious exercise was a violation of the First Amendment and the government’s oath of neutrality.)

Shift in Power: States → People

NYTimes Company v. United States (1971)

Clause/Amendment: 1st Amendment — Freedom of Press

Facts: In the Pentagon Papers Case, In which Nixon filed an injunction (asked the federal courts to issue a prior restraint [censor the New York Tines]) claiming the publication of the papers threatened national security.

Holding: Held that publication of past events (like the Pentagon Papers) cannot be censored unless the government proves it would cause a direct, immediate, and irreparable harm to national security. Prior restraint is unconstitutional here.

• In this case, the Pentagon Papers detailed mistakes in the Vietnam War that already happened so no immediate threat.

Shift in Power: Government (Exec. & Legis.) → People/Press

Schneck V. United States (1919)

Clause/Amendment: 1st Amendment — Freedom of Speech (“Clear and present danger”)

Facts: Schneck was charged with conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act because he urged others to disobey the draft, he appealed on the 1st Amendment.

Holding: 1st Amendment does not protect speech that creates “clear and prevent danger” such as avoiding the draft during war.

Shift in Power: People —> Congress

McDonald v. Chicago (2009)

Clause/Amendment: 2nd Amendment — Incorporation (Bill of Rights Amendments that are made applicable to states through the Due Process Clause under the 14th Amendment)

Facts: City of Chicago had a strict ban on owning handguns, in which individuals filed against this ban under the Second Amendment

Holding: States has the power to restrict/regulate guns but can NOT ban guns due to the Second Amendment.

Shift in Power: States → People

Wisconsin V. Yonder (1971)

Clause/Amendments: 1st Amendment — Free Exercise Clause

Facts: Amish parents were prosecuted under Wisconsin law that required all children to attend public schools until age 16, in which they argued for their religious practices.

Holding: The individual’s interests in the Free-Exercise Clause for religion under the 1st Amendment outweighed State interests.

Shift in Power: States → People