Marbury v. Madison, 1803

• Context: Marbury was told by Adams that he would be an appointment for the Supreme Court, however he never received his commission before Jefferson became president. Marbury sued Madison in the Court to get his commission via writ of mandamus.

• Constitutional issue: Does the Court have the authority to order the delivery of the commission?

• Court opinion: Madison’s refusal to deliver the commission was illegal, and also the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional because it extended beyond the Court’s original jurisdiction; the Court would be stepping over its powers by ordering the delivery of the commission.

• Impact: This case established judicial review, which is is the right for the Court to declare any act of the government unconstitutional

McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819

• Context: Maryland tried to pass legislation to impose taxes on a national bank. McCulloch, a cashier of the Baltimore branch of the bank, refused to pay the tax.

• Constitutional issue: Did Maryland’s law interfere with the congressional powers?

• Court opinion: Maryland could not tax the national bank.

• Impact: Necessary and proper clause - congress has implied powers from the constitution. Established supremacy of national laws over state laws.

Brown v. Board of Education, 1954

• Context: Linda Brown was a black girl attending fifth grade in Topeka, where schools were segregated. She was refused admission to a white elementary school. The NAACP brought a class-action suit and argued that she was denied equal protection of the law.

• Constitutional issue: Does the segregation of public education based solely on race violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?

• Court opinion: Separate but unequal is inherently unequal, thereby violating the Fourteenth Amendment

• Impact: Striking down segregation in schools was a catalyst towards the civil rights movement, by leading towards advancements in desegregating other areas of our society.

Gideon v. Wainwright, 1963

• Context: Gideon was charged with felony breaking and entering. He appeared in court without a lawyer and requested one, but Florida law said attorneys are given to defendants in capital cases only. He was sentenced to prison, and there he filed habeas corpus arguing his rights were violated.

• Constitutional issue: Does the right to counsel extend to felony defendants in state courts?

• Court opinion: state courts must appoint attorneys for defendants who cannot afford one, under the sixth amendment.

• Impact: This case solidified the Sixth amendment - the accused are guaranteed the right to a lawyer in all prosecutions, and if they cannot afford one the court must provide one.

Tinker v. Des Moines, 1969

• Context: A group of students in Des Moines decided to wear black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. The principal retaliated by creating a policy that any student wearing a black armband would be asked to remove it, and refusal would  result in suspension. The parents and students sued the school district for violating their freedom of expression.

• Constitutional issue: Does the prohibition against wearing armbands as a sign of protest in a public school violate the students’ freedom of speech under the First Amendment?

• Court opinion: students still have their First Amendment rights of freedom of speech when they step into school property

• Impact: public schools cannot censor students’ freedom of expression unless they can reasonably predict that the expression will disrupt school activities

Roe v. Wade, 1973 (not required for 2023 exam)

• Context: Jane Roe filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, challenging a Texas law that made abortion illegal. Roe alleged the law violated her right to personal privacy, protected by the Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

• Constitutional issue: Does the Constitution recognize a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy by abortion?

• Court opinion: A woman’s right to choose to have an abortion falls within the right to privacy under the Fourteenth Amendment. A state law which broadly prohibits abortion violates that right.

• Impact: The state cannot regulate abortion decisions in the first trimester of pregnancy. In the second trimester, the state can impose reasonable restrictions. In the third trimester, when the fetus has reached viability, the state can regulate abortion entirely, as long as there is an exception for the health of the mother.

United States v. Lopez, 1995

• Context: Lopez was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon at his high school. He was charged under the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, which banned people from bringing guns into schools. Lopez challenged this, arguing the law exceeded Congress’s power to legislate under the Commerce clause.

• Constitutional Issue: Is the 1990 Gun-Free School Zones Act, unconstitutional because it exceeds the power of Congress to legislate under the Commerce Clause?

• Court opinion: Possessing a gun on school property is not an economic activity. The law is a criminal statute that has nothing to do with "commerce" or any sort of economic activity.

• Impact: This case marked the first time in fifty years that the Court held Congress overstepped its powers under the Commerce Clause

Baker v. Carr, 1961

• Context: Tennessee citizens and Baker noticed that their state hadn’t been redistricted since 1901, and there were many shifts in population and demographics, as well as economic growth. He said this violated the Fourteenth Amendment, under the Equal Protection Clause.

• Constitutional issue: Did the Supreme Court have jurisdiction over questions of legislative apportionment?

• Court opinion: Yes the Court does have jurisdiction over state reapportionment. Issues surrounding the Fourteenth Amendment merit judicial evaluation.

• Impact: established the right of federal courts to review redistricting issues

Engel v. Vitale, 1962

• Context: The New York State Board of Regents authorized a voluntary prayer for recitation at the start of each school day. A group of organizations joined forces in challenging the prayer, claiming that it violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

• Constitutional Issue: Does the reading of a nondenominational prayer at the start of the school day violate the "establishment of religion" clause of the First Amendment?

• Court opinion: The state cannot hold prayers in public schools, even if participation is not required and the prayer is not tied to a particular religion.

• Impact: It is unconstitutional for state officials to organize an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools

New York Times Co. v. United States, 1995

• Context: The Nixon Administration attempted to prevent the New York Times and Washington Post from publishing materials belonging to a classified Defense Department study regarding the history of United States activities in Vietnam (the Pentagon Papers). The President argued that prior restraint was necessary to protect national security.

• Constitutional Issue: Did the Nixon administration's efforts to prevent the publication of what it termed "classified information" violate the First Amendment?

• Court opinion: The government did not overcome the "heavy presumption against" prior restraint of the press in this case

• Impact: In any situation in which the government wishes to resort to censorship, it faces a difficult task in convincing the courts to issue the necessary legal orders

Schenck v. United States, 1919

• Context: During WW1, Schenck distributed leaflets encouraging the public to disobey the draft. Schenck was charged with conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act of 1917. Schenck appealed on the grounds that the statute violated his First Amendment rights.

• Constitutional Issue: Did Schenck's conviction under the Espionage Act for criticizing the draft violate his First Amendment right to freedom of speech?

• Court opinion: No, as the First Amendment does not protect speech which aims at creating danger.

• Impact: Use of the clear and present danger test to determine if a certain speech is an exception to the First Amendment, as the First Amendment does not protect speech that approaches creating a clear and present danger.

McDonald v. Chicago, 2010

• Context: In the case District of Columbia v. Heller, the Court ruled that DC law which banned handguns violated the Second Amendment. In this case the plaintiffs argued the Second Amendment should also be applied to the states.

• Constitutional Issue: Does the Second Amendment apply to the states because it is incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment's Privileges and Immunities or Due Process clauses and thereby made applicable to the states?

• Court opinion: The Fourteenth Amendment makes the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms applicable to the states.

• Impact:  The Second Amendment applies to state and local governments as well as to the federal government.

Shaw v. Reno, 1993

• Context: The US Attorney General rejected a North Carolina congressional reapportionment plan because it created only one black majority district. So a second one was created, however it was weirdly shaped and sized. North Carolina residents challenged the constitutionality of this because they said the only purpose of this district was to get another black representative.

• Constitutional Issue: Does the claim that North Carolina created a racially gerrymandered district, raise a valid constitutional issue under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause?

• Court opinion: The claim did challenge the Fourteenth Amendment. The shape of this district was an effort to separate voters based on race. The North Carolina District Court has to decide whether a “compelling government interest” justified North Carolina’s plan.

• Impact: Using racial reasons for redistricting is unconstitutional

Yoder v. Wisconsin, 1972

• Context:  Yoder, a member of the Old Order Amish religion, was prosecuted under a Wisconsin law that required all children to attend public schools until age 16. Yoder refused to send their child to such schools after the eighth grade, arguing that high school attendance was contrary to their religious beliefs.

• Constitutional Issue: Did Wisconsin's requirement that all parents send their children to school at least until age 16 violate the First Amendment by criminalizing the conduct of parents who refused to send their children to school for religious reasons?

• Court opinion: The values in secondary school were in sharp contrast with the Amish religion, so yes the Wisconsin law did violate the parents’ First Amendment rights.

• Impact: established the precedent that an individual's right to exercise their religious beliefs under the First Amendment takes priority over the state's interests in compulsory education

Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, 2010

• Context: A conservative nonprofit group called Citizens United challenged campaign finance rules after the FEC stopped it from promoting and airing a film criticizing presidential candidate Hillary Clinton too close to the presidential primaries.

• Constitutional Issue: Is the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which prohibits any corporation, non-profit organization or labor union from making an "electioneering communication" within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of an election, unconstitutional?

• Court opinion: The Act violates free speech under the First Amendment.

• Impact: Corporations and wealthy individuals can spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns, as their money is seen as free speech and is therefore protected under the First Amendment.