Key Supreme Court Cases Review

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering major U.S. Supreme Court cases, their rulings, and relevant constitutional amendments as detailed in the lecture transcript.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

A landmark case that established judicial review, allowing the Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional, thereby increasing the strength of the judicial branch.

Judicial Review

The power of the Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional, established following the ruling in Marbury v. Madison (1803).

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Case involving the 2nd National Bank where the Court ruled unanimously for McCulloch, establishing the constitutionality of the bank via the necessary and proper clause and the supremacy of national laws over state laws.

Schenck v. United States (1919)

A unanimous $9-0$ decision ruling that the government can restrict speech during wartime if it creates a “clear and present danger” to national security, such as obstructing draft recruitment.

Clear and Present Danger

A legal standard established in Schenck v. United States (1919) stating that free speech is not protected if it poses a significant threat to national security, illustrated by the analogy of falsely yelling “fire” in a crowded theatre.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Case that upheld state segregation laws, establishing the “separate but equal” principle after Homer Plessy challenged the Louisiana Separate Car Act.

Separate but Equal

The main principle from Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) specifying that separate facilities for black and white people were legal as long as they were equal.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

A unanimous ruling that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, declaring that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” and overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

A $6-1$ ruling that school-sponsored prayer in public schools is unconstitutional as it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and breaches the wall of separation between church and state.

Establishment Clause

A First Amendment provision used in Engel v. Vitale (1962) to determine that the government (and schools) cannot endorse any specific belief or religion.

Baker v. Carr (1962)

Case that overrode the precedent preventing the Supreme Court from intervening in redistricting, ruling that legislative districts must be drawn to fairly represent population under the 14th Amendment.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

A unanimous $9-0$ decision that states must provide an attorney to criminal defendants who cannot afford one, strengthening the right to counsel under the 6th and 14th Amendments.

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent C.S.D. (1969)

A $7-2$ ruling in favor of students wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War, famously stating students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

Materially and Substantially Interfere

The standard established in Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) that school officials must meet to justify suppressing student speech.

Morse v. Frederick (2007)

A $5-4$ decision that schools can censor student speech that promotes drug use, such as a “Bongs Hits 4 Jesus” banner, if it is “substantially disruptive” to the educational environment.

New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)

A $6-3$ vote protecting freedom of the press by ruling the government could not stop the publication of the secret “Pentagon Papers.”

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

A $7-0$ vote in favor of Amish families, ruling that a state's interest in mandated education until age 16 cannot overwhelm the First Amendment right to free exercise of religion.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

A $7-2$ decision establishing that the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment includes a right to privacy that protects a woman’s decision to have an abortion via a trimester system.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health (2022)

A $6-3$ ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, stating the Constitution does not explicitly protect abortion rights and returning abortion regulation to state governments.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

A case that challenged North Carolina's oddly shaped voting districts, ruling that racial gerrymandering can be unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

United States v. Lopez (1995)

A $5-4$ vote that declared the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 unconstitutional because gun possession in a school zone does not fall under Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce.

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)

A $5-4$ ruling that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess firearms for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home, unconnected to militia service.

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

A $5-4$ ruling that used the 14th Amendment to protect Second Amendment rights from state and local infringement, specifically regarding handgun bans for self-defense.

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

A $5-4$ decision ruling that political spending is a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment, allowing corporations and unions to spend unlimited money independently on political campaigns.

Super PACs

Organizations that arose following Citizens United v. FEC (2010) due to the deregulation of campaign finance and the ruling that independent political spending is free speech.

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

A $5-4$ ruling that established the requirement for police to inform suspects of their 5th and 6th Amendment rights before questioning, now known as Miranda Warnings.

Korematsu v. United States (1944)

A $6-3$ decision upholding Executive Order 9066 and the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War 2 as a necessary measure for national security.

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

A $5-4$ decision that same-sex marriage is a fundamental liberty protected by the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the 14th Amendment.

National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012)

A $5-4$ vote that upheld the individual mandate of the ACA as a taxing power but ruled the federal government cannot force states to expand Medicaid by threatening to withhold existing funds (10th Amendment).

Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)

A $3-$5$$ ruling that schools are allowed to censor school-sponsored activities like student newspapers if the management of speech is within school-related activities.

Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. (2021)

An $8:1$ ruling that schools generally cannot punish students for speech that occurs on personal devices and outside of school premises unless it causes substantial disruption.

United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898)

A $6-2$ ruling that established the principle of birthright citizenship, confirming the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause applies to children born on U.S. soil to foreign immigrant parents.