AP Gov Court Cases
Marbury v Madison (1803) - Established the principle of judicial review, allowing the Supreme Court to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.
McCulloch v Maryland (1819) - Affirmed the supremacy of federal over state law and upheld the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States.
Gibbons v Ogden (1824) - Strengthened the federal government’s power to regulate interstate commerce by ruling that state laws cannot interfere with or regulate commerce that crosses state lines.
Dred Scott v Sanford (1857) - Ruling that African Americans slaves could not be considered citizens and therefore could not sue in federal court, this case intensified national tensions over slavery. Missouri Compromise is unconstitutional.
Plessy v Ferguson (1896) - Upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine, which legitimized state laws that enforced segregation until it was eventually overturned by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
Schenck v United States (1919) - Ruled that speech presenting a "clear and present danger" is not protected under the First Amendment, particularly in the context of World War I and anti-war activism, reinforcing the government's ability to limit speech during wartime.
Gitlow v New York (1925) - Established that the First Amendment's protections of free speech apply to state governments via the Fourteenth Amendment, setting a precedent for future cases involving the balance between state interests and individual rights. The government can also punish speech that threatens its existence.
Korematsu v United States (1944) - Upheld the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II as a wartime necessity, reinforcing the government's authority to limit civil liberties in times of national crisis, though later judgments criticized its application and principles.
Brown v Board of Education 1 (1954) - Declared that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, effectively overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, and marking a significant victory for the Civil Rights Movement.
Brown v Board of Education 2 (1955) - Ordered the desegregation of public schools to occur "with all deliberate speed," providing a crucial follow-up to the original decision and emphasizing the need for swift enforcement to ensure civil rights.
Mapp v Ohio (1961) - Established the exclusionary rule, which prohibits the use of illegally obtained evidence in state courts, reinforcing the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Baker v Carr (1961) - Addressed the issue of legislative apportionment, ruling that courts have jurisdiction to hear cases involving the redistricting of state legislative districts, thereby establishing the principle of "one person, one vote," which was pivotal in ensuring fair representation.
Engel v Vitale (1962) - Held that the government-sponsored prayer in public schools violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, affirming the principle of separation of church and state and shaping the landscape of religious freedom in educational settings.
Gideon v Wainwright (1963) - Guaranteed the right to counsel for defendants in criminal cases who cannot afford an attorney, thus reinforcing the Sixth Amendment's promise of fair trial rights for all individuals, regardless of economic status.
New York Times Co. v Sullivan (1964) - Established the actual malice standard, which requires that public officials must prove that false statements about them were made with knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard for the truth, thereby strengthening the protection of freedom of speech and press under the First Amendment.
Griswold v Conneticut (1965) - Recognized the right to marital privacy, striking down a Connecticut law that prohibited the use of contraceptives, thereby laying the groundwork for future cases related to privacy rights and reproductive freedom.
Miranda v Arizona (1966) - Established the requirement that individuals taken into police custody must be informed of their rights to an attorney and against self-incrimination prior to questioning, thereby enhancing the protections provided under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments.
Loving v Virgina (1967) - Invalidated laws banning interracial marriage, affirming the fundamental right to marry and establishing that such laws violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
United States v O’Brien (1968) - Upheld the prohibition against the burning of draft cards as a form of symbolic speech, determining that the government's interest in maintaining an effective draft system outweighed the individual's First Amendment rights.
Tinker v Des Moines (1969) - Affirmed the right of students to express themselves freely in public schools, ruling that schools could not limit student speech unless it substantially disrupted the educational process, thus reinforcing the applicability of the First Amendment in educational settings.
Lemon v Kurtzman (1971) - Established the "Lemon Test," which determines if a law violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by assessing whether the law has a secular purpose, promotes or inhibits religion, or fosters an excessive entanglement between government and religion.
New York Times Co. v United States (1971) - Held that the government could not impose prior restraint on the press, allowing for the publication of the Pentagon Papers and underscoring the importance of a free press in a democratic society.
Wisconsin v Yoder (1972) - Held that the state could not compel Amish children to attend school past the eighth grade, as it infringed upon their religious freedom and way of life, thus emphasizing the protection of individual liberties under the First Amendment.
Roe v Wade (1973) - Recognized a woman's legal right to have an abortion under the right to privacy, establishing a significant precedent for reproductive rights and continuing the debate surrounding governmental limits on personal choice.
United States v Nixon (1974) - Affirmed the principle that no one, not even the President, is above the law, leading to Nixon's forced release of tape recordings during the Watergate scandal, which reinforced the accountability of the executive branch.
Gregg v Georgia (1976) - Upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty, ruling that it does not inherently violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, thus affirming states' rights to impose capital punishment under certain circumstances.
Buckley v Valeo (1976) - Established that political spending is a form of protected free speech under the First Amendment, thereby influencing campaign finance laws and allowing for greater individual contributions to political campaigns. However, governmental restriction, limits on expenditures from candidates’ families, and limits on total campaign expenditures does violate the 1st amendment.
Regents of the University of California v Bakke (1978) - Addressed affirmative action in education, ruling that while race could be a factor in admissions processes to promote diversity, strict quotas in university admissions violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Texas v Johnson (1989) - Ruling that flag burning is protected speech under the First Amendment, the Court held that the government cannot prohibit expression simply because it is offensive or disagreeable.
Lee v Weisman (1992) - Determined that school-sponsored prayer at graduation ceremonies violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, reinforcing the principle of separation of church and state and ensuring that public schools remain neutral in matters of religion.
Shaw v Reno (1993) - This case challenged racial gerrymandering in North Carolina, where the Supreme Court ruled that redistricting based on race must meet strict scrutiny standards, ultimately emphasizing that states cannot use race as a predominant factor in drawing electoral districts.
United States v Lopez (1995) - The Supreme Court ruled that Congress had exceeded its authority under the Commerce Clause when it banned the possession of firearms in school zones, marking a significant limitation on the scope of federal legislative power and reinforcing the importance of states' rights.
Bush v Gore (2000) - This landmark case resolved the disputed 2000 presidential election through a Supreme Court ruling that effectively decided the election in favor of George W. Bush by halting a recount of votes in Florida, thereby underscoring the role of the judiciary in electoral processes and solidifying the principle of equal protection under the law.
Grutter v Bollinger (2003) - In this case, the Supreme Court upheld the affirmative action policy of the University of Michigan Law School, ruling that the school's use of race as one factor in admissions decisions was constitutional, thereby affirming the pursuit of diversity in higher education as a compelling interest.
Roper v Simmons (2005) - The Supreme Court held that executing individuals who were under 18 years of age at the time of their crimes constituted cruel and unusual punishment, thereby establishing a national standard against the juvenile death penalty and emphasizing the evolving standards of decency in society.
Citizens United v Federal Election Commission (2010) - This pivotal case established that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited under the First Amendment, leading to a significant increase in political spending by corporations and unions and raising concerns about the influence of money in politics.
McDonald v Chicago (2010) - In this landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is applicable to states through the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause, thus reinforcing individual gun ownership rights against state restrictions and expanding the interpretation of the Second Amendment.
Obergefell v Hodges (2015) - The Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right under the Fourteenth Amendment, requiring all states to recognize and license marriages between same-sex couples, thereby advancing LGBTQ+ rights and equality in marriage.