AP US Government and Politics - Unit 3 SCOTUS Cases

Gitlow v. New York

Established that the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause extends the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of speech to state governments.

Mapp v. Ohio

Ruled that evidence obtained through unconstitutional searches and seizures is inadmissible in state courts.

Gideon v. Wainwright

Ruled that the Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to an attorney for criminal defendents in state courts who can’t afford one themselves.

Engel v. Vitale

Ruled that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools because it violates the Establishment Clause.

Board of Education v. Allen

Ruled that the New York law that required public school districts to lend non-religious textbooks to private and religious school students was constitutional under the Establishment Clause.

Schenck v. United States

Ruled that the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment can be restricted if the speech presents a clear and present danger.

Wisconsin v. Yoder

Ruled that Wisconsin’s compulsory school attendance law violated the Free Exercise Clause as applied to the Amish.

McDonald v. Chicago

Ruled that the right to keep and bear arms for self defense is applicable to state and local governments.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Ruled that racial segregation did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment, establishing the “separate but equal” doctrine.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

Ruled that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional because of the Equal Protection Clause.

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

Ruled that rigid quotas in University admissions were unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause.