Government study guide 14th & 2nd amendment

Barron v. Baltimore

• Background: Barron sued Baltimore for diverting water from his harbor without compensation

• Lower courts: Awarded money but overturned on appeal

• Constitutional rights: 5th Amendment Takings Clause

• SCOTUS holding: Bill of Rights applies only to federal government, not states

• Precedent: Bill of Rights applies only to federal government

• 14th Amendment: Not applied (pre-incorporation case)

• Connections: Later overturned by incorporation cases like Gitlow v. NY

Miranda v. Arizona

• Background: Miranda confessed during police interrogation

• Lower courts: Conviction upheld

• Constitutional rights: 5th Amendment self-incrimination, 14th Due Process

• SCOTUS holding: Police must inform suspects of rights before questioning

• Precedent: No requirement to warn suspects

• 14th Amendment: Procedural due process applied to states

• Connections: Criminal procedure rights cases

Griswold v. Connecticut

• Background: Law banned contraception even for married couples

• Lower courts: Conviction upheld

• Constitutional rights: 1st, 3rd, 4th, 9th, 14th privacy rights

• SCOTUS holding: Constitution protects marital privacy

• Precedent: No recognized right to privacy

• 14th Amendment: Substantive due process

• Connections: Roe v. Wade privacy reasoning

Gideon v. Wainwright

• Background: Gideon denied lawyer in felony case

• Lower courts: Relief denied

• Constitutional rights: 6th Amendment right to counsel, 14th Amendment incorporation

• SCOTUS holding: States must provide attorneys to indigent defendants

• Precedent: Betts v. Brady allowed exceptions

• 14th Amendment: Selective incorporation

• Connections: Criminal defense rights cases

Chicago v. Morales

• Background: Arrest under gang loitering ordinance

• Lower courts: Ordinance upheld

• Constitutional rights: 14th Amendment Due Process

• SCOTUS holding: Law unconstitutionally vague

• Precedent: Vague laws can be upheld if reasonable

• 14th Amendment: Procedural due process

• Connections: Vagueness doctrine cases

Hernandez v. Texas

• Background: Mexican Americans excluded from juries

• Lower courts: Conviction upheld

• Constitutional rights: 14th Amendment Equal Protection

• SCOTUS holding: Equal protection applies to all racial groups

• Precedent: Two-class system (Black/White only)

• 14th Amendment: Expanded equal protection

• Connections: Civil rights jury discrimination cases

Loving v. Virginia

• Background: Interracial marriage ban

• Lower courts: Conviction upheld

• Constitutional rights: Equal Protection + Due Process

• SCOTUS holding: Anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional

• Precedent: Segregation laws tolerated

• 14th Amendment: Equal protection + liberty to marry

• Connections: Obergefell v. Hodges

Miller v. Alabama

• Year: 2012

• Background: Juvenile sentenced to life without parole

• Lower courts: Sentence upheld

• Constitutional rights: 8th Amendment + 14th Due Process

• SCOTUS holding: Mandatory life without parole for juveniles unconstitutional

• Dissents: Courts overstepping legislative authority

• Precedent: Harsh juvenile sentencing allowed

• Broken precedent: Mandatory sentencing rules

• 14th Amendment: Due process applied to sentencing

• Connections: Juvenile justice cases

Ricci v. DeStefano

• Year: 2009

• Background: Firefighters promotion exam results discarded

• Lower courts: City action upheld

• Constitutional rights: Equal Protection + Title VII

• SCOTUS holding: Cannot discard results without strong evidence

• Dissents: Action prevented discrimination lawsuits

• Precedent: Affirmative action flexibility allowed

• Broken precedent: Race-based adjustments without proof

• 14th Amendment: Equal protection limits race-based decisions

• Connections: Bakke, affirmative action cases

Regents v. Bakke

• Year: 1978

• Background: Medical school quota system

• Lower courts: Admission denied upheld

• Constitutional rights: Equal Protection Clause

• SCOTUS holding: Quotas unconstitutional but race can be considered

• Dissents: Affirmative action should be broader

• Precedent: Racial quotas allowed in some contexts

• Broken precedent: Strict quota systems

• 14th Amendment: Equal protection limits quotas

• Connections: SFFA v. Harvard, Ricci

Brown v. Board of Education

• Year: 1954

• Background: Segregated schools

• Lower courts: Segregation upheld

• Constitutional rights: Equal Protection Clause

• SCOTUS holding: Segregation in schools unconstitutional

• Dissents: Separate but equal acceptable

• Precedent: Plessy v. Ferguson

• Broken precedent: “Separate but equal”

• 14th Amendment: Equal protection applied to education

• Connections: Civil rights movement

Plessy v. Ferguson

• Year: 1896

• Background: Segregated train seating

• Lower courts: Law upheld

• Constitutional rights: Equal Protection

• SCOTUS holding: Segregation constitutional

• Dissents: None major

• Precedent: State segregation laws allowed

• Broken precedent: None

• 14th Amendment: Narrow interpretation

• Connections: Overturned by Brown

Mapp v. Ohio

• Year: 1961

• Background: Illegal search of home

• Lower courts: Evidence allowed

• Constitutional rights: 4th Amendment + 14th Due Process

• SCOTUS holding: Exclusionary rule applies to states

• Dissents: Limits police effectiveness

• Precedent: Wolf v. Colorado

• Broken precedent: Wolf v. Colorado overturned

• 14th Amendment: Incorporation

• Connections: Criminal procedure cases

Katz v. United States

• Year: 1967

• Background: Wiretapping public phone booth

• Lower courts: Conviction upheld

• Constitutional rights: 4th Amendment

• SCOTUS holding: Privacy expectation protected

• Dissents: No physical intrusion

• Precedent: Physical trespass standard

• Broken precedent: Old search definition

• 14th Amendment: Due process incorporation

• Connections: Mapp v. Ohio

Yick Wo v. Hopkins

• Year: 1886

• Background: Discriminatory permit system

• Lower courts: Law upheld

• Constitutional rights: 14th Equal Protection

• SCOTUS holding: Discriminatory enforcement unconstitutional

• Dissents: Law was neutral on its face

• Precedent: Neutral laws assumed valid

• Broken precedent: Allowed biased enforcement

• 14th Amendment: Equal protection enforcement

• Connections: Civil rights discrimination cases

McDonald v. Chicago

• Year: 2010

• Background: Handgun ban

• Lower courts: Law upheld

• Constitutional rights: 2nd Amendment + 14th

• SCOTUS holding: 2nd Amendment applies to states

• Dissents: States should regulate guns

• Precedent: Limited gun rights application

• Broken precedent: State-level gun restrictions

• 14th Amendment: Incorporation doctrine

• Connections: DC v. Heller

Dred Scott v. Sandford

• Year: 1857

• Background: Enslaved man sued for freedom

• Lower courts: Case dismissed

• Constitutional rights: Property rights under 5th Amendment

• SCOTUS holding: African Americans not citizens

• Dissents: Strong disagreement on citizenship

• Precedent: None protective

• Broken precedent: Citizenship rights denied

• 14th Amendment: Later overturned by citizenship clause

• Connections: Reconstruction amendments

New Jersey v. TLO

• Year: 1985

• Background: Student searched after being caught with marijuana

• Lower courts: Conviction upheld

• Constitutional rights: 4th Amendment search and seizure, 14th Due Process

• SCOTUS holding: Schools can search students with reasonable suspicion

• Dissents: Lowered privacy protections for students

• Precedent: School officials need less than probable cause

• Broken precedent: Stronger 4th Amendment protections in schools

• 14th Amendment: Applied due process to school searches

• Connections: School search and student rights cases

Palko v. Connecticut

• Year: 1937

• Background: Defendant retried and sentenced to death

• Lower courts: Conviction upheld

• Constitutional rights: 5th Amendment double jeopardy, 14th Due Process

• SCOTUS holding: Double jeopardy not fully incorporated to states

• Dissents: All Bill of Rights protections should apply to states

• Precedent: Selective incorporation doctrine

• Broken precedent: Full incorporation rejected

• 14th Amendment: Selective incorporation standard

• Connections: Later overturned by incorporation doctrine expansion

Ewing v. California

• Year: 2003

• Background: Theft under “three strikes law”

• Lower courts: Sentence upheld

• Constitutional rights: 8th Amendment cruel and unusual punishment

• SCOTUS holding: 25-year sentence is constitutional

• Dissents: Sentence is excessive for nonviolent crime

• Precedent: Broad sentencing discretion allowed

• Broken precedent: Limits on harsh repeat offender sentencing

• 14th Amendment: Due process applied to sentencing

• Connections: Rummel v. Estelle

Gregg v. Georgia

• Year: 1976

• Background: Death penalty for murder/armed robbery

• Lower courts: Sentence upheld

• Constitutional rights: 8th Amendment cruel and unusual punishment

• SCOTUS holding: Death penalty constitutional with safeguards

• Dissents: Death penalty inherently unconstitutional

• Precedent: Furman v. Georgia

• Broken precedent: Blanket rejection of death penalty procedures

• 14th Amendment: Due process requirements for capital punishment

• Connections: Capital punishment cases

DC v. Heller

• Year: 2008

• Background: Handgun ban in Washington DC

• Lower courts: Law upheld

• Constitutional rights: 2nd Amendment right to bear arms

• SCOTUS holding: Individuals have right to possess firearms for self-defense

• Dissents: Gun rights should be regulated by government

• Precedent: Collective rights interpretation of 2nd Amendment

• Broken precedent: Limited individual gun ownership view

• 14th Amendment: Later incorporated in McDonald v. Chicago

• Connections: McDonald v. Chicago

Terry v. Ohio

• Year: 1968

• Background: Stop and frisk of suspect with weapon

• Lower courts: Conviction upheld

• Constitutional rights: 4th Amendment search and seizure

• SCOTUS holding: Stop and frisk allowed with reasonable suspicion

• Dissents: Expands police power too far

• Precedent: Probable cause standard relaxed in limited cases

• Broken precedent: Strict warrant requirement weakened

• 14th Amendment: Due process applied to searches

• Connections: Criminal procedure and policing cases

Obergefell v. Hodges

• Year: 2015

• Background: Same-sex marriage bans challenged

• Lower courts: Mixed rulings

• Constitutional rights: 14th Amendment Equal Protection and Due Process

• SCOTUS holding: Same-sex marriage is a constitutional right

• Dissents: Marriage definition should be left to states

• Precedent: Loving v. Virginia

• Broken precedent: State bans on marriage restrictions

• 14th Amendment: Equal protection + fundamental liberty

• Connections: Civil rights marriage cases

Plessy v. Ferguson

• Year: 1896

• Background: Segregated train car law

• Lower courts: Law upheld

• Constitutional rights: 14th Amendment Equal Protection

• SCOTUS holding: Segregation constitutional under “separate but equal”

• Dissents: Segregation inherently unequal

• Precedent: Allowed racial segregation laws

• Broken precedent: None at time

• 14th Amendment: Narrow interpretation of equality

• Connections: Overturned by Brown v. Board

Furman v. Georgia

• Year: 1972

• Background: Death penalty case involving burglary

• Lower courts: Sentence upheld

• Constitutional rights: 8th Amendment cruel and unusual punishment

• SCOTUS holding: Death penalty unconstitutional as applied (arbitrary)

• Dissents: Courts should not abolish death penalty

• Precedent: Inconsistent capital punishment standards

• Broken precedent: Unchecked death penalty systems

• 14th Amendment: Due process concerns

• Connections: Gregg v. Georgia

Plyler v. Doe

• Year: 1982

• Background: Texas denied education funding to undocumented children

• Lower courts: Law upheld

• Constitutional rights: 14th Amendment Equal Protection

• SCOTUS holding: Cannot deny public education based on immigration status

• Dissents: Immigration policy should be state decision

• Precedent: Equal protection applies broadly

• Broken precedent: Excluding undocumented immigrants from protections

• 14th Amendment: Equal protection extended to undocumented children

• Connections: Immigration rights cases

Gitlow v. New York

• Year: 1925

• Background: Socialist manifesto publication

• Lower courts: Conviction upheld

• Constitutional rights: 1st Amendment free speech, 14th Due Process

• SCOTUS holding: Free speech applies to states (incorporation begins)

• Dissents: Speech restriction justified for security

• Precedent: States can regulate speech

• Broken precedent: Absolute state control over speech

• 14th Amendment: Beginning of incorporation doctrine

• Connections: Free speech and incorporation cases

Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard

• Year: 2023

• Background: Race-conscious admissions challenged

• Lower courts: Harvard admissions upheld

• Constitutional rights: 14th Amendment Equal Protection, Title VI

• SCOTUS holding: Race-based admissions unconstitutional

• Dissents: Affirmative action still needed for diversity

• Precedent: Grutter v. Bollinger allowed race consideration

• Broken precedent: Affirmative action admissions framework

• 14th Amendment: Strict equal protection interpretation

• Connections: Bakke, affirmative action cases