Political Action Committees (PACS) are organizations that raise and spend money to elect and defeat candidates.
Super PACS
Super PACS are independent expenditure-only committees that can raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations, and individuals.
Unlike traditional PACs, Super PACS cannot directly contribute to candidates or parties.
Packing and Cracking
Packing: Concentrating like-minded voters into one district to reduce their voting power in other districts.
Cracking: Spreading like-minded voters apart across multiple districts to dilute their voting power and prevent them from constituting a majority in any district.
Both are gerrymandering techniques used to manipulate district boundaries for political advantage.
Logrolling
Logrolling is the practice of exchanging favors, especially in politics, by reciprocal voting for each other’s proposed legislation.
Earmarks
Earmarks are congressional directives that funds should be spent on specific projects or for specific locations.
Often criticized as wasteful spending or pork barrel legislation.
Pork Barrel
Pork barrel refers to the use of government funds for projects designed to please voters or legislators and win votes.
Baker v. Carr
Issue: Reapportionment and whether federal courts can hear cases alleging that a state's drawing of electoral districts violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Holding: The Supreme Court held that federal courts could hear cases alleging that a state's drawing of electoral districts violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Significance: Established the principle of “one person, one vote,” requiring that electoral districts be roughly equal in population.
Brown v. Board of Education
Issue: Segregation of schools based on race.
Holding: The Supreme Court declared state-sponsored segregation in public schools unconstitutional, overturning the “separate but equal” doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).
Significance: Landmark case that helped dismantle segregation in the United States.
Citizens United v. FEC
Issue: Whether the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA, also known as McCain-Feingold) violates the First Amendment's free speech clause.
Holding: The Supreme Court held that corporations and unions have the same First Amendment rights as individuals, and thus the government cannot restrict their independent political spending in candidate elections.
Significance: Led to the rise of Super PACs and a significant increase in money in politics.
Engel v. Vitale
Issue: Prayer in public schools and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Holding: The Supreme Court ruled that mandatory prayer in public schools is unconstitutional, violating the Establishment Clause.
Significance: Reinforced the separation of church and state.
Gideon v. Wainwright
Issue: Right to an attorney for the poor.
Holding: The Supreme Court held that the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of counsel is a fundamental right, and states must provide legal representation to indigent defendants in criminal cases.
Significance: Ensured that defendants have access to legal representation, regardless of their ability to pay.
Marbury v. Madison
Issue: Judicial Review
Holding: Established the principle of judicial review, which allows the Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional.
Significance: Landmark case that established the Supreme Court as the ultimate interpreter of the Constitution.
McCulloch v. Maryland
Issue: National Bank and the scope of implied powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause.
Holding: The Supreme Court held that the Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution allows Congress to enact laws that are “necessary and proper” to carry out its enumerated powers.
Significance: Affirmed the implied powers of Congress and the supremacy of federal law over state law.
McDonald v. Chicago
Issue: Selective incorporation of the Second Amendment.
Holding: The Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense applies to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
Significance: Further defined the scope of the Second Amendment.
NYT v. US
Issue: Prior restraint and freedom of the press.
Holding: The Supreme Court held that the government could not prevent the New York Times from publishing classified documents (the Pentagon Papers) because doing so would violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press.
Significance: Affirmed the importance of a free press and limited the government’s ability to suppress information.
Schenck v. US
Issue: Clear and present danger and freedom of speech.
Holding: The Supreme Court held that speech that presents a “clear and present danger” to the safety of the United States is not protected by the First Amendment.
Significance: Established a limit on free speech during times of war or national crisis.
Shaw v. Reno
Issue: Racial gerrymandering.
Holding: The Supreme Court held that congressional districts drawn solely on the basis of race are unconstitutional, violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Significance: Established limits on the use of race in drawing electoral districts.
Tinker v. Des Moines
Issue: Free speech in schools.
Holding: The Supreme Court held that students have a right to freedom of speech in schools as long as it does not disrupt the educational environment.
Significance: Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate.
US v. Lopez
Issue: Gun-Free School Zones Act and the Commerce Clause.
Holding: The Supreme Court held that the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, which banned the possession of firearms in school zones, was unconstitutional because it exceeded Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause.
Significance: Limited the scope of the Commerce Clause.
Wisconsin v. Yoder
Issue: Free exercise of religion.
Holding: The Supreme Court held that Amish children could not be compelled to attend school past the eighth grade because doing so would violate their parents’ right to freedom of religion under the First Amendment.
Significance: Upheld the importance of religious freedom.
Miranda v. Arizona
Issue: Rights of the accused
Holding: The Supreme Court held that criminal suspects must be informed of their constitutional rights, including the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney, before being interrogated.