U.S. Supreme Court Cases
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66 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Marbury v. Madison | 1803, First case of judicial review where a law is deemed unconstitutional. |
| Gitlow v. New York | 1925, First incorporating case, where the Bill of Rights applies to both the states and the federal government. |
| Schenck v. US | 1919, Government can stop you from saying something that is a clear and present danger. |
| Feiner v. New York | 1951, Free speech can be forbidden if it will lead to violence. |
| Brandenburg v. Ohio | 1969, There are levels to free speech. Established the Incitement Test, which determines the levels of speech protected by law. |
| Tinker v. Des Moines School District | 1969, Symbolic acts of free speech are legal under the 1st Amendment |
| Shaw v. Hunt | 1996, racially gerrymandered districts violate the 14th Amendment. Blacks were over-represented in majority-minority districts. |
| US v. Nixon | 1974, No person is above the law, and the president can't use executive privilege as an excuse to withhold evidence from a trial. |
| Buckley v. Valeo | 1976, Candidates can contribute as much of their own money to their campaign as they want. "Money is speech." |
| Citizens United v. FEC | 2010, Corporations and unions can contribute as much as they want to campaigns, because, as legal entities, they have the right to free speech. |
| Massachusetts v. EPA | 2007, The EPA must regulate CO2 emissions in accordance with the Clean Air Act. |
| Roth v. US | 1957, Obscenity isn't protected by free speech. |
| Miller v. California | 1973, Obscenity isn't protected by free speech. Established the Three-pronged Obscenity Test. |
| FCC v. Pacifica Foundation | 1978, Certain things, while not obscene, are inappropriate for the general public, and can not be broadcast publicly. |
| US v. Lopez | 1994, Congress must defer punishment to states, because the gun-free school zone act exceeds Congress' authority to regulate interstate commerce. |
| DC v. Heller | 2008, Individuals have the right to own a gun as a means of self-defense based on the 2nd amendment, so the gun regulation rule was unconstitutional. |
| McDonald v. Chicago | 2010, States can not ban guns because of the right to bear arms and equal protection of the law. |
| Texas v. Johnson | 1989, Burning the American flag is constitutional because it is expressive conduct with political undertones, protected by the 1st Amendment. |
| Bush v. Gore | 2000, Popular votes should not be recounted in this case, because they would not all be counted and there would not be equal protection of the law. |
| Dred Scott v. Sandford | 1857, Slaves were not citizens; living in a free state or territory did not free slaves; declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. |
| Plessy v. Ferguson | 1896, separate but equal (segregated facilities) is constitutional. |
| Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada | 1939, According to the separate but equal doctrine, a state has to either admit blacks to the law school or establish a separate but equal school for them. |
| Korematsu v. US | 1934, National security outweighs the constitutional promise of equal rights. |
| Heart of Atlanta Motel v. US | 1964, Businesses can't discriminate against blacks or women when providing goods and services. |
| Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education | 1971, In the interest of desegregation, mandatory busing within district lines is constitutional. |
| UC Regents v. Bakke | 1978, Race quotas are unconstitutional. Race cannot be the sole factor in accepting or denying entrance, but it can be a factor in the admissions process. |
| Grutter v. Bollinger | 2002, upheld constitutionality of the use of race as a factor in admissions decisions to promote diversity |
| Gratz v. Bollinger | 2003, University of Michigan's affirmative action point system was too mechanistic in its use of race as a factor in admissions, and was therefore unconstitutional. |
| Bowers v. Hardwick | 1986, upheld constitutionality of Georgia law that criminalized sodomy in private. |
| Lawrence and Gardner v. Texas | 2002, due process makes it unconstitutional to prohibit private non-harmful actions. |
| Loving v. Virginia | 1967, Restricting the freedom to marry solely on the basis of race is unconstitutional because of the 14th amendment equal protection clause. |
| Ricci v. Stefano | 2009, employers cannot use statistical disparity alone when making race-conscious decisions to justify ignoring test results. |
| Minersville School District v. Gobitis | 1940, forcing students to salute the flag is a secular policy influencing the state, and is therefore constitutional. |
| West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette | 1943, forcing students to salute the flag is a violation of 1st amendment free speech, and is therefore unconstitutional. |
| Everson v. Board of Education | 1947, the state can use taxpayer money to reimburse students who take the public bus to religious schools, because it benefits students, not religion. |
| Engel v. Vitale | 1961, banned formal government-written prayers in schools. |
| Abbington v. Schempp | 1962, required religious reading in public schools is unconstitutional because it violates freedom of religion. |
| Powell v. Alabama | 1932, the right to counsel is required by law in death penalty trials. |
| Betts v. Brady | 1942, council must be provided in certain circumstances. |
| Gideon v. Wainwright | 1963, state courts are required to provide counsel for people who can't afford it. |
| Escobedo v. Illinois | 1964, statements to police are invalid if no lawyer is present. |
| Miranda v. Arizona | 1966, police must inform you of your rights before you are questioned. |
| Hamdan v. Rumsfeld | 2006, The president doesn't have the authority to set up war tribunals or special military commissions. |
| Boumediene v. Bush | 2008, non-citizens have the right to habeas corpus, and congress's Military Commissions Act is unconstitutional. |
| Sheppard v. Maxwell | 1966, right to a fair trial is more important than the right to free press, so press can be limited in some cases. |
| Olmstead v. US | 1928, the government can tap your phone without a warrant. |
| Katz v. US | 1967, the government can not tap your phone without a warrant. |
| Mapp v. Ohio | 1968, protection against illegal search and seizure must apply to the states |
| Nix v. Williams | 1984, evidence that would inevitably be discovered after following constitutional laws is permissible in court (inevitable discovery doctrine). |
| Palko v. Connecticut | 1937, right to protection against double jeopardy is not a fundamental right incorporated by the 14th amendment onto the states. |
| Benton v. Maryland | 1969, double jeopardy is a fundamental right and should be incorporated onto the states. |
| Epperson v. Arkansas | 1968, prohibiting teaching evolution in schools is unconstitutional. |
| Lemon v. Kurtzman | 1971, governmental aid only to religious schools involves excessive entanglement between government and religion. Established the _____ Test: laws must have a secular purpose, can't advance or inhibit religion, and can't foster the entanglement of government and religion. |
| Griswold v. Connecticut | 1965, right to privacy for married couples allows them to buy and use contraceptives. |
| Furman v. Georgia | 1972, the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. |
| Gregg v. Georgia | 1976, the death penalty is not cruel and unusual punishment for extreme cases. |
| Parents v. Seattle District 1 and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education | 2006, race can not be a determining factor in admission to public schools. |
| McCulloch v. Maryland | 1819, federal law is stronger than the state law, and state laws can't interfere with federal laws. |
| Baker v. Carr/Reynolds v. Sims/Wesberry v. Sanders | 1964, allowed for political questions to be heard in courts. created guidelines for drawing up congressional districts; must reflect one person, one vote rule. |
| INS v. Chadha | 1983, one-house legislative vetoes violate the separation of powers and are unconstitutional. |
| Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka | 1954, separate but equal is inherently unequal. Ordered the integration of all public schools. |
| Brown II | 1955, Ordered the integration of all public schools with all deliberate speed. |
| Roe v. Wade | 1973, legalized abortion without restrictions in the 1st trimester, and with restrictions in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters. |
| Webster v. Reproductive Services | 1989, allowed states to ban abortions from public hospitals and permitted doctors to test to see if fetuses were viable. |
| Planned Parenthood v. Casey | 1992, allowed the regulation of abortion if it was not an undue burden on the mother. |
| Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood | 2007, upheld Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. |
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