Important Supreme Court Cases

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering major US Supreme Court cases, their dates, key issues, and rulings as detailed in the lecture notes.

Judicial Review

The right of the courts to declare laws unconstitutional, established as a precedent in Marbury v. Madison $1803$.

Marbury v. Madison ($1803$)

A landmark case concerning Separation of Powers that declared a portion of the Judiciary Act of $1789$ unconstitutional and established Judicial Review.

Fletcher v. Peck ($1810$)

A case dealing with Federalism that extended the principle of Judicial Review to include state laws.

McCulloch V. Maryland ($1819$)

A case that established the implied powers doctrine, ruling that Congress had the power to charter a National Bank under the Elastic Clause.

Dred Scott v. Sandford ($1857$)

A ruling that declared blacks were not citizens, characterized slaves as property, and held the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional under the $5^{th}$ Amendment.

Ex Parte Milligan ($1866$)

Held that the suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus and due process during the Civil War was unconstitutional while civilian courts were functioning.

Plessy v. Ferguson ($1896$)

Established the "separate but equal" doctrine, holding that state laws requiring segregated railroad cars were constitutional.

Schenck v. U.S. ($1919$)

Established the "clear and present danger" doctrine, stating that the First Amendment guarantee of free speech is not absolute, especially during war.

Korematsu v. U.S. ($1944$)

Held that the presidential order to place Japanese Americans in internment camps to protect national security during WWII was constitutional.

Brown v. Board of Education ($1954$)

Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson by ruling that segregation in schools was "inherently unequal" and violated the equal protection clause of the $14^{th}$ Amendment.

Baker v. Carr ($1962$)

Ordered states to follow the "one person, one vote" rule when redistricting after a census.

Mapp v. Ohio ($1961$)

Decided that evidence obtained through unreasonable search and seizure in violation of the $4^{th}$ Amendment may not be used in a court of law.

Engle v. Vitale ($1962$)

Held that state laws requiring prayer in schools are a violation of the establishment clause in the First Amendment.

Gideon v. Wainwright ($1963$)

A case concerning the rights of the accused which held that defendants must be provided a lawyer if they cannot afford one.

Miranda v. Arizona ($1966$)

Ruled that police must inform suspects of their $5^{th}$ and $6^{th}$ Amendment rights at the time of their arrest.

Tinker v. Des Moines ($1969$)

Affirmed students' freedom of speech, stating they do not "shed their constitutional rights… at the schoolhouse gate."

Roe v. Wade ($1973$)

Held that state laws banning abortion violated the right to privacy before being reversed by Dobbs v. Jackson in $2022$.

Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health ($2022$)

Reversed the Roe v. Wade decision, stating that the regulation of abortion is determined on a state-by-state basis.

U.S. v. Nixon ($1973$)

Ruled that "executive privilege" did not protect Nixon's White House tapes and ordered him to turn them over to Congress.

NJ v. TLO ($1985$)

Established a "standard of reasonableness" for school searches, meaning officials need reasonable suspicion rather than probable cause to search a student.