Supreme Court Cases To Know

Marbury V. Madison (1803)

Significance: It helped establish the Supreme Court's power to check the power of the other branches of government. It also gave the court judicial review, or power to make an act of Congress unconstitutional. Strengthen the Supreme Court. (Article III of the Consitution was violated)

McCulloch V. Maryland (1819)

Significance The Supreme Court ruled Congress can use constitutional power to build a national bank. It was also stated that. The decision of the Supreme Court that states not allowed to tax federal banks. (10th Amendment as the states can not tax the national bank interpreted by the Court)

Schneck V. United States (1919)

Significance: The Supreme Court invented the "clear and present danger" test to determine when a state could constitutionally limit an individual's free speech rights under the First Amendment. (1st Amendment)

Brown V. Board of Education (1954)

Significance: Signaled the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States, overruling the "separate but equal" principle outlined in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case. (14th Amendment for equal protection)

Engel V. Vitale (1962)

Significance: The Supreme Court ruled that the school-led prayer violated the First Amendment, citing the importance of separating government and religion. (1st Amendment for religious freedom)

Baker V. Carr (1962)

Significance: The Court held that that redistricting qualifies as a justiciable question, thus enabling federal courts to hear redistricting cases. (14th Amendment Equal protection clause was violated)

Gideon V. Wainwright (1963)

Significance: The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Gideon, guaranteeing the right to legal counsel for criminal defendants in federal and state courts. (6th Amendment was violated due to denial of counsel)

Tinker V. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)

Significance: The Supreme Court ruling cemented students' right to free speech in public schools.

New York Times Co. V. United States (1971)

Significance: The Supreme Court ruled defending the First Amendment right of a free press against prior restraint by the government. (1st Amendment was violated as schools attempted to censor students)

Wisconsin V. Yoder (1972)

Significance: The Supreme Court's decision in this case 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. (1st Amendment violated due to not being able to exercise their religion)

Shaw V. Reno (1993)

Significance: The Court ruled that claims of racial redistricting must be held to a standard of strict scrutiny, meaning that any law that results in classification by race must have a compelling government interest, be narrowly tailored to meet that goal, and be the least restrictive means for achieving that interest. (The 14th Amendment of the Equal Protection Clause was being violated)

United States V. Lopez (1995)

Significance: The Court's decision in Lopez struck down a federal law creating gun-free school zones, which limited the power of the federal government in relation to the states.

McDonald V. Chicago (2010)

Significance: The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment extends the Second Amendment's right to keep and bear arms to the states, at least for traditional, lawful purposes such as self-defense. (The 14th Amendment and 2nd Amendment was violated due to the Due Process Clause and the right to bear arms)

Citizens United V. Federal Election Commission (2010)

Significance: The Court ruled that the First Amendment prohibits limits on corporate funding of independent broadcasts in candidate elections. The justices said that the government's rationale for the limits on corporate spending—to prevent corruption—was not persuasive enough to restrict political speech. (1st Amendment was weakened to prevent to freedom of the press from getting out of hand in corruption???)