AP Required SCOTUS Cases

Descriptions & Questions involving the AP Government required cases

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

* William Marbury, a prominent financier and Federalist, sued James Madison in response to not being served his commission for justice of the peace for Washington, D.C.
* Marbury requested the U.S. Supreme Court issue a writ of mandamus to force Madison to deliver the commission
* The Supreme Court confirmed that Marbury's rights were violated since he did not receive his commission
* Established judicial review

Judicial Review

Marbury v. Madison (1803) established this important principle - the power of the federal courts to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

* The state of Maryland imposed a tax on the bank of $15,000/year, which cashier James McCulloch of the Baltimore branch refused to pay
* Maryland argued that as a sovereign state, it had the power to tax any business within its borders


* The Court established that Congress had implied constitutional power to create a national bank and that individual states could not tax a federally chartered bank
* The case established, once and for all, that when state and federal laws are in conflict, the federal law always wins

National bank

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) allowed established that Congress had the constitutional power to create a what?

Individual states

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) claimed that _____ could not tax a federally chartered bank

Schenck v. United States (1919)

* Charles Schenck was charged under the Espionage Act for mailing printed circulars critical of the military draft
* The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of Charles Schenck and Elizabeth Baer for violating the Espionage Act of 1917 through actions that obstructed the “recruiting or enlistment service” during World War I
* If speech is intended to result in a crime, and there is a clear and present danger that it actually will result in a crime, the First Amendment does not protect the speaker from government action

First Amendment

Schenck v. United States (1919) states that the ___________ does not protect speech that is dangerous or aimed towards planning a crime

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

* Linda Brown, an African American girl, could not attend a less-crowded white school a few blocks from her home in Topeka, Kan
* Brown & others argued this was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th Amendment
* The Supreme Court issued a unanimous 9–0 decision in favor of the Brown family and the other plaintiffs
* Signaled the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States, overruling the "separate but equal" principle set forth in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case

Earl Warren

This Chief Justice wrote the opinion that all judges unanimously agreed with

Baker v. Carr (1962)

* Charles W. Baker and other Tennessee citizens alleged that a 1901 law designed to apportion the seats for the state's General Assembly was virtually ignored. Baker's suit detailed how Tennessee's reapportionment efforts ignored significant economic growth and population shifts within the state
* The Court held that redistricting qualifies as a justiciable question under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, thus enabling federal courts to hear Fourteenth Amendment-based redistricting cases

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

* A New York State law required public schools to open each day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a nondenominational prayer in which the students recognized their dependence upon God
* The Court found that a short school prayer authorized by New York public school officials violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment

church, state

The First Amendment guarantees a separation of ____ and ___

Gideon V. Wainwright (1963)

* Clarence Earl Gideon was accused of breaking into a bar in Panama City, Florida. The police arrested Gideon and put him in jail. At his trial, Gideon could not afford a lawyer and asked the judge to appoint one for him. The judge refused, and he had to represent himself in court
* Gideon challenged his conviction and sentence on the ground that the trial judge's refusal to appoint counsel violated Gideon's constitutional rights
* The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Gideon, guaranteeing the right to legal counsel for criminal defendants in federal and state courts

Miranda V. Arizona (1966)

* Ernesto Miranda, a Mexican immigrant living in Phoenix, Arizona, was identified in a police lineup by a woman, who accused him of kidnapping and raping her. Miranda was arrested and questioned by the police for two hours until he confessed to the crimes
* Miranda was convicted of both rape and kidnapping and sentenced to 20 to 30 years in prison. He appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court, claiming that the police had unconstitutionally obtained his confession
* In a 5-4 Supreme Court decision, ruled that detained criminal suspects, prior to police questioning, must be informed of their constitutional right to an attorney and against self-incrimination

Tinker V. Des Moines (1969)

* At a public school in Des Moines, Iowa, students organized a silent protest against the Vietnam War. Students planned to wear black armbands to school to protest the fighting but the principal found out and told the students they would be suspended if they wore the armbands
* The United States Supreme Court ruled in a 7-2 decision in favor of the students
* The high court agreed student’s rights should be protected and claimed, “Students don’t shed their Constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gates”

New York Times V. United States (1971)

* The New York Times and Washington Post illegally leaked classified documents about American involvement in the Vietnam War
* First Amendment battle between the highest levels of government and two of the most respected newspapers in the country
* The Court ruled 6-3 in New York Times v. United States that the prior restraint was unconstitutional. Though the majority justices disagreed on some important issues, they agreed that “Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government”

Wisconsin V. Yoder (1972)

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled (7–0) that Wisconsin's compulsory school attendance law was unconstitutional as applied to the Amish (primarily members of the Old Order Amish Mennonite Church), because it violated their First Amendment right to free exercise of religion

Roe V. Wade (1973)

* Before 1973 in Texas, it was only legal for a women to obtain an abortion if its reasoning was to save the mother’s life
* A Texas woman, using the pseudonym Jane Roe, challenged the Texas law and her case eventually went to the Supreme Court. Roe claimed that the law robbed her of her right to privacy and her liberty as protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
* The Supreme Court recognized that the right to liberty in the Constitution, which protects personal privacy, includes the right to decide whether to continue a pregnancy
* OVERTURNED (6-3 decision) June 24th, 2022

Shaw V. Reno (1993)

* After the 1990 census, North Carolina qualified to have a 12th district and drew it in a distinct snake-like manner in order to create a “majority-minority” Black district


* The justices decided that using racial reasons for redistricting is unconstitutional

United States V. Lopez (1995)

* High school senior Alfonso Lopez walked into his San Antonio high school carrying a concealed weapon. He was charged with violating a Texas law that banned firearms in schools
* The next day, the state charges against him were dismissed after he was charged with violating a federal law: the Gun Free School Zones Act
* The Gun-Free School Zones Act was established by Congress in 1990 to prohibit the possession of firearms in school zones. The legislation was introduced in an effort to reduce school shootings and protect students and teachers
* The Supreme Court ruled that Congress had exceeded its constitutional authority under the Commerce Clause when it passed a law prohibiting gun possession in local school zones

McDonald V. City of Chicago (2010)

* Otis McDonald and others filed suit in U.S. District Court to challenge provisions of a 1982 Chicago law that, among other things, generally banned the new registration of handguns and made registration a prerequisite of possession of a firearm
* The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment extends the Second Amendment's right to keep and bear arms to the states, at least for traditional, lawful purposes such as self-defense
* The Court ruled that the Second Amendment right to bear arms was applicable to the states.