Landmark Supreme Court Case Worksheet Notes

Landmark Supreme Court Case Worksheet Notes

Required Cases Overview

  • The worksheet outlines 14 landmark Supreme Court cases with their respective issues, significance, holdings, and notable connections to other cases.

1. Brown v. Board of Education

  • Issue/Topic: Racial segregation in public schools

  • Significance/Holding: Declared state-sanctioned segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The Court unanimously ruled that "separate but equal" facilities are inherently unequal.

  • Catchphrase: "Separate but equal" is inherently unequal.

  • Similar Cases: Bolling v. Sharpe, Briggs v. Elliot, Mendez v. Westminster, Plessy v. Ferguson, Dred Scott v. Sandford.

2. Engel v. Vitale

  • Issue/Topic: School-sponsored, voluntary, nondenominational prayer in public schools

  • Significance/Holding: Declared that school-sponsored, voluntary, nondenominational prayer in public schools violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

  • Similar Cases: Abington School District v. Schempp, Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, Wallace v. Jaffree.

3. Gideon v. Wainwright

  • Issue/Topic: Requirement for states to provide defense attorneys to criminal defendants who cannot afford one

  • Significance/Holding: Declared that states must provide defense attorneys to criminal defendants who cannot afford one, concluding that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel is essential to a fair trial and is obligatory upon states via the Fourteenth Amendment.

  • Similar Cases: In re Gault, Miranda v. Arizona.

4. Schenck v. United States

  • Issue/Topic: Free speech during times of national danger

  • Significance/Holding: Held that free speech is not absolute and can be restricted if it poses a clear and present danger to national safety.

  • Similar Cases: Abrams v. United States, Debs v. United States, Gitlow v. New York, Sacco & Vanzetti, Brandenburg v. Ohio, Korematsu v. United States.

5. Roe v. Wade

  • Issue/Topic: Constitutionality of abortion

  • Significance/Holding: The 14th Amendment's right to privacy protects a pregnant person’s liberty to choose to have an abortion.

  • Similar Cases: Griswold v. Connecticut, Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

6. McDonald v. Chicago

  • Issue/Topic: Second Amendment rights and handgun registration

  • Significance/Holding: Declared that the city of Chicago’s ban on handgun registration infringes on Second Amendment rights, asserting the Second Amendment is incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment and enforceable against the states.

  • Similar Cases: District of Columbia v. Heller, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, United States v. Rahimi.

7. Marbury v. Madison

  • Issue/Topic: Judicial commission entitlement

  • Significance/Holding: Held that William Marbury was entitled to his judicial commission but the statute allowing him to bring his case to the Supreme Court was unconstitutional. Established the principle of judicial review.

  • Similar Cases: McCulloch v. Maryland, Dred Scott v. Sandford, Cooper v. Aaron.

8. McCulloch v. Maryland

  • Issue/Topic: Taxation of the national bank by states

  • Significance/Holding: Established that Congress has implied powers under the “Necessary and Proper