AP Government Supreme Court Cases - Lots

Marbury vs. Madison (1803)

Case in which the supreme court first asserted th power of Judicial review in finding that the congressional statue expanding the Court's original jurisdiction was unconstitutional.

McCulloch vs. Maryland (1819)

Court ruled that congress did have authority to charter bank, citing the necessary and proper clause.

Gibbons vs. Ogden (1824)

Established a broad view of the commerce clause when a federal Steamboat license trumped a New York state license.

Dred Scott vs. Sandford (1857)

Justice Taney's opinion in this case stated that slave owners could take their slaves anywhere in the U.S. and that slaves had no rights to be in federal court.

Reynolds vs. U.S. (1879)

The Supreme Court ruling that all state districts must be equal in population. Government can limit what you practice--> Practice is different then belief. *can limit polygamy b/c it is a practice of beliefs*

Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)

This case established the "seperate but equal" doctrine.

Schneck vs. U.S. (1919)

This speech was not constitutionally protected because it posed a "clear and present danger" to the country, thus creating the "clear and present danger" test to apply to First Amendment right of Speech.

Gitlow vs. New York (1925)

Incorporated 1st Amendment right of Free Speech to the states, using the 14th Amendment.

Near v. Minnesota (1931)

1st Amendment protected newspaper from prior restraint.

Korematsu v. United States (1944)

American citizens of Japanese descent can be interned and deprived of basic constitutional rights; first application of the strict scrutiny test

Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)

This case overruled the "seperate but equal" doctrine.

Mapp vs. Ohio (1961)

Incorporated a portion of the 4th Amendment by establishing that illegally obtained evidence cannot be used at trial, forbids unreasonable search and seizures.

Engel vs. Vitale (1962)

Case that said organized prayer is unconstitutional in school.

Gideon vs. Wainwright (1963)

Right to a lawyer in a state trial, given by the 6th.

Heart of Atlanta v. United States (1964)

The Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 can be applied to a place of accommodation, prohibiting discrimination against black people.

Baker vs. Carr (1962)

The Court decision saying districts must be roughly equal in population. 1 person = 1 vote.

Griswold vs. Connecticut (1965)

A Connecticut law criminalizing the use of contraceptives violated the right to marital privacy. Under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.

Miranda vs. Arizona (1966)

Your rights must be read to you..., 5th, 6th and 14th amend. Confession was illegally, must be warned prior that he has a right to remain silent and other rights that are given to you.

Tinker vs. Des Moines (1969)

Supreme Court case that stated that students do not lose their freedom of speech rights in high school. Students wore black arm bands to protest the Vietnam War.

New York Times vs. U.S. (1971)

The Government must strongly justify any abridgment of a newspaper's freedom of speech, as long as it does not threaten national security.

Lemon vs. Kurtzman (1971)

For a law to be considered constitutional under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, the law must have a legitimate secular purpose, must not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion, and must not result in an excessive entanglement of government and religion.

Roe vs. Wade (1972)

This case used the implied right to privacy to restrict government interference with abortion.

U.S. vs. Nixon (1974)

The Court decided that the President must hand over incriminating tapes because Presidential power is not above the law.

University of California Regents vs. Bakke (1978)

Race may be taken into account when allowing students to higher education institutions as long as it is not the primary reason for allowing a student in.

Texas vs. Johnson (1989)

Ruled that a person has a constitutional right to burn the American flag.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

NO racial gerrymandering; race cannot be the sole or predominant factor in redrawing legislative boundaries; majority-minority districts.

United States v. Lopez (1995)

The Commerce clause of the Constitution does not give Congress the power to regulate guns in state-operated schools.

Bush vs. Gore (2000)

The court ruled that manual recounts of presidential ballots in the Nov. 2000 election could not proceed because inconsistent evaluation statdards in different counties violated the equal protection clause.

Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

state law may not ban sexual relations between same-sex partners because it would be an unreasonable invasion of privacy by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment

Brandenburg vs. Ohio (1969)

This decision held that speech could be limited if it was directed at inciting or producing imminent lawless action and it is likely to incite or produce such action.

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

Political spending is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, and corporations or unions have freedom of speech to support or denounce individual candidates in elections.

Miller v. California (1973)

Obscene material does not enjoy first amendment protections and can be censored

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

The court ruled that the right to free exercise of religion took priority of a compulsory secondary education

Gregg v. Georgia (1976)

The court upheld the legality of the death penalty (overturned Furman v. Georgia)

Furman v. Georgia (1972)

The death penalty is cruel and unusual and violates the 8th amendment