AP Government Required Court Cases 2025

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Established supremacy of the U.S. Constitution and federal laws over state laws.

United States v. Lopez (1995)

Congress may not use the commerce clause to make possession of a gun in a school zone a federal crime.

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

School sponsorship of religious activities violates the establishment clause.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Compelling Amish students to attend school past the eighth grade violates the free exercise clause

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Public school students have the right to wear black armbands in school to protest the Vietnam War

Schenck v. United States (1919)

Speech creating a "clear and present danger" is not protected by the First Amendment

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

Bolstered the freedom of the press, establishing a "heavy presumption against prior restraint" even in cases involving national security

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Guaranteed the right to an attorney for the poor or indigent in a state felony case

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense is applicable to the states

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Race-based school segregation violates the equal protection clause

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

Political spending by corporations, associations, and labor unions is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment

Baker v. Carr (1962)

Opened the door to equal protection challenges to redistricting and the development of the "one person, one vote" doctrine by ruling that challenges to redistricting did not raise "political questions" that would keep federal courts from reviewing such challenges

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Majority minority districts, created under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, may be constitutionally challenged by voters if race is the only factor used in creating the district

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Established the principle of judicial review empowering the Supreme Court to nullify an act of the legislative or executive branch that violates the Constitution