Unit 3 Required Court Cases

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Prohibited state-sponsored recitation of prayer in public schools by virtue of 1st Amendment's establishment clause and the 14th Amendment's due process clause; Warren Court's judicial activism.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

The Court ruled that Wisconsin could not require Amish parents to send their children to public school beyond the eighth grade because it would violate 1st Amendment long-held religious beliefs.

Schenck v. United States (1919)

A legal case in which it was ruled that government can limit 1st Amendment free speech if the speech provokes a "clear and present danger" of substantive evils.

New York Times v. United States (1971)

The government attempted to stop the publication of the Pentagon Papers because it would harm the country. Court did not allow because government must prove actual harm to national security if it seeks prior restraint to censor the press. (Burger Court)

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

Incorporated the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms to the states.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Ordered states to provide lawyers for those unable to afford them in criminal proceedings. Warren Court's judicial activism in criminal rights.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Overrules Plessy v. Ferguson (no stare decisis). Racial segregation violates 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause ("separate is inherently unequal")

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Students in an Iowa school were suspended for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam war. Ruled that this suspension was unconstitutional of 1st Amendment, and that public school students do not "shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse door."