Supreme Court Cases and Tests

Cases

Marbury v Madison (1803) - Supreme court claimed the power of judicial review (constitutional validity of a legislative act)

McCulloch v Maryland (1819) - necessary and proper clause of Article I, §8 embraces all means that are appropriate to carry out the legitimate ends of the Constitution

Gibbons v Ogden (1824) - the power to regulate interstate commerce in Article I, § 8, is an exclusive national power (Commerce clause)

Cherokee Nation v Georgia (1831) - decision that ruled against southern states engaged in Indigenous removal activities, but states failed to follow through because there was no way to enforce.

Dred Scott v Sanford (1857) - Court provided its support for the institution of slavery. It ruled that slaves were neither citizens nor entitled to the rights and privileges of citizenship

Plessy v Ferguson (1896) - the doctrine of “separate but equal” was advanced by the Court

Gitlow v New York (1925) - Incorporation Theory held that state governments must comply with national laws and Amendments with 14 Amendment. This case was about free speech.limited speech that might lead to some “evil.”

Near v Minnesota (1931) - prior restraint on publication was found to violate the freedom of the press under the 1st Amendment

Powell v Alabama (1932) - the Court held that counsel was required in all state capital (death penalty) proceedings

US v Curtiss-Wright Exp. Corp (1936) - recognized some of the emergency powers of the president in times of crisis.

DeJonge v Oregon (1937) - Peaceful assembly cannot be criminalized

US v Miller (1939) - Court ruled that the federal government and the states could limit any weapon types not having a “reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia”

Betts v Brady (1942) - required the appointment of counsel in serious felony cases where the defendant, because of “ignorance, feeblemindedness, illiteracy, or the like” is unable to adequately represent themself.

Smith v Allwright (1944) - The white primary (primary election where only White people could vote) was ruled unconstitutional

Brown v Board of Education of Topeka (1954) - determined that public school segregation violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The Court concluded that separation is inherently unequal and (sort of) ended de jure segregation

Engel v Vitale (1962) - the court ruled that school-sponsored prayer was in violation of the Establishment clause

Gideon v Wainwright (1963) - The Court unanimously held that a poor person accused of a crime was entitled to a lawyer at state expense

NYT v Sullivan (1964) - to win a libel case (written defamation), it must be shown that the false statements were made knowingly

Griswold v Connecticut (1965) - The Court ruled that the right to privacy stems from the “penumbras” of the 1,3,4,5,9 Amendments

Miranda v Arizona (1966) - decided that a suspect must be notified of their right to refuse to answer questions when in custody

US v O’Brien (1968) - Supreme Court determined the government wasn’t suppressing speech but was asserting authority to administer the draft

Brandenburg v Ohio (1969) - Court used the “imminent lawless action” test on a challenge to a state criminal syndicalism law.

Tinker v Des Moines (1969) - The Supreme Court defined first amendment rights for students, in which they have them.

Lemon v Kurtzman (1971) - direct state aid could not be used to subsidize religious instruction. Created the “Lemon Test”

Agostini v Felton (1971) - Court used Lemon Test to determine that the use of federal funds for disadvantaged students attending religious schools did not violate the establishment clause

New York Times v US (1971) - the Supreme Court ruled that the NYT had the right to publish a secret history of the Vietnam War prepared by the Department of Defense because prior restraint, aka censorship, is unconstitutional

Coates v City of Cincinnati (1971) - Court ruled that vague or overbraod laws were unconstitutional.

Reed v Reed (1971) - held that the administrators of estates cannot be named in a way that discriminates between sexes

Roe v Wade (1973) - Court accepted the argument that laws against abortion violate a woman’s right to privacy, however, it was overturned in 2022 with Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization

Buckley v Valeo (1976) - laws attempted to limit spending by campaigns, but this provision was overturned as a violation of the 1st Amendment.

University of California v Bakke (1978) - argued that the affirmative action plan that used a racial quota acted as reverse discrimination against those who do not have minority status, Court agreed

Gannet Company v De Pasquale (1979) - the Court ruled that a judge could issue a gag order to protect a defendant’s right to a fair trial

Plyler v Doe (1982) - decision that the state of Texas could not demonstrate a compelling state interest in denying education funding to districts that educated illegal immigrants using Strict Scrutiny Standard

New York v Quarles (1984) - Police don’t have to give Miranda warnings when they ask you general questions and you're not a suspect (don’t have to answer but you have to be truthful bc that's obstruction of justice)

Wallace v Jaffree (1985) - struck down a minute of silent prayer in Alabama

Bethel School District v Fraser (1986) - student speech can be limited in some cases.

Bowers v Hardwick (1986) - Court found that there was no constitutional protection for acts of sodomy and that states could outlaw those practices

Edwards v Aguillard (1987) - teaching the Judeo-Christian story of creation in a publicly funded, secular biology course was unconstitutional

Hustler Magazine v Falwell (1988) - public figures cannot avoid defamation ruled by suing for intentional infliction of emotional distress (suck it up and take it)

Texas v Johnson (1989) - flag burning was given protection as symbolic speech, a 2003 ruling did not, however, afford the same protection to the burning of a cross as a symbol of racist terror

Oregon v Smith (1990) - two Indigenous American drug rehab counselors were fired for using peyote in their religious ceremonies. This created the Smith Standard

Cruzan v Director of Missouri Department of Health (1990) - led to the creation of living wills and other documents to provide safeguards for the right to die

Lee v Weisman (1992) - Prayer outside the classroom was limited, specifically at a graduation ceremony

United States v Lopez (1995) - Congress had overreached its authority under the commerce clause when it passed the Gun-Free School Zone Act in 1990

Rosenberger v University of Virginia (1995) - the court ruled that the university must fund a Christian newsletter if it’s funding other campus groups’ newsletters

Hopwood v Texas (1996) - ruling that any use of race in making admissions decisions violated the 14th Amendment

Printz v United States (1997) - held that states couldn't be compelled to enforce or administer federal regulatory programs under the 10th Amendment

City of Boerne v Flores (1997) - ruled that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was unconstitutional for granting religious authorities too much power

Faragher v City of Boca Raton (1998) - established that employers were liable for sexual harassment if they did not exercise reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct any sexually harassing behavior.

Alden v Maine (1999) - exempts the states from lawsuits brought against them for violating federal employment laws

Sutton v United Airlines Inc (1999) - removed protections for correctable afflictions and

determined that states cannot be sued under the federal ADA which affirmed the 11th Amendment

Ashcroft v Free Speech Coalition (2002) -  Pornography involving minors is not protected because it is obscene.

Nevada v Hibbs (2003) - the court held the state requirements of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, pulling away somewhat from its previous interpretation of the 11 Amendment

Lawrence v Texas (2003) - overruled the Bowers case when the Court ruled that consensual sexual activity between adults was a liberty protected by the 14th Amendment

Roper v Simmons (2005) - forbade the death penalty to be used on minors

Garcetti v Ceballos (2006) - supported the punishment of an assistant district attorney for attempting to expose a lie

Morse v Frederick (2007) - defendant’s speech was not fully protected because the school deemed it inappropriate at a school event.

DC v Heller (2008) - the 2nd Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes

McDonald v Chicago (2010) - reversed the Seventh Circuit, holding that the 14th Amendment makes the 2nd Amendment right applicable to states.

Obergefell v Hodges (2015) - held that laws making same-sex marriage illegal violated both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment

Caetano v Massachusetts (2016) - Court reversed the state conviction of a crime victim for the possession of a stun gun (taser) that she had acquired to protect herself from a violent ex-bf

Jones v Mississippi (2021) - the court relieved judges of having to find incorrigibility as a precondition for life without parole

Kennedy v Bremerton School District (2022) - ruled in favor of a high school coach who had a practice of praying on the field at the end of the games. This case eliminated the Lemon Test, stating that it was unnecessary because of tradition and the Establishment Clause

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc v Bruen (2022) - Court ruled that the “good cause” provision of the NY firearms licensing law was unconstitutional as it unduly burdened the right to bear arms.

Tests

Lemon Test - Law has a clear secular purpose; It neither promotes nor inhibits religion/ religious practice; It avoids excessive government entanglement with religion

Smith Standard - the law is neutral on religion and of general applicability; and is related to an important governmental objective

Strict Scrutiny Standard - Fundamental constitutional rights; Compelling state interest, least restrictive means possible

Intermediate Analysis - the policy or law advances an important state interest (different than compelling); based on objective differences; has to be reasonable

Rational Basis - the case doesn’t involve a protected class (race, religion, national origin, ethnicity) federally; if the law has a rational foundation, and doesn't involve a protected class/activity, then it’s constitutional. The plaintiff must prove that there’s no rational basis