U.S. Government
Ms. Murray
Judicial Branch Unit
Landmark Supreme Court Cases
PowerPoint Project
From the establishment of judicial review in Marbury v. Madison, the United States Supreme
Court has issued many significant and monumental decisions that have altered the general course
of life in the United States. The Court’s decisions have played a huge role in defining our
system of government and ultimately our way of life. You and a partner are charged with
researching a landmark Supreme Court case and presenting your information to the class in the
form of a PowerPoint presentation.
Presentation Details: Your presentation must consist of:
 at least 7 slides and no more than 12.
 a mixture of images and text.
 One slide needs to be a list of references in the correct MLA style as required and noted
in your BHS writer’s handbook.
 The following information:
o Who was the plaintiff in the case?
o Who was the defendant in the case?
o What historical background information exists regarding the circumstances of the
case?
o What was the issue?
o Trace the course of the case. How did it make it to the Supreme Court?
o What was the decision of the court? Provide a detailed summary of the majority
opinion. Who authored it? Were there supporting opinions? Provide a detailed
summary of any opposing, dissenting opinions.
o What Constitutional Issue was involved/decided by the Court’s decision in this
case?
o Was precedence established with this decision? Or did the Court use precedence
in their decision?
o What was the lasting impact of this decision? How does it impact us?
o Engage the class in the Questions for Discussion included on your supporting
document that your teacher has given you. Be sure to provide the class with your
own answer to the questions as well.
Landmark Supreme Court Cases:
Choose one of the following cases to use for your project. You can sign up for your case in
class. Sign ups will be on a first come, first serve basis and repeats will not be allowed. I suggest
researching a few options before you come to class and have a list of your top three.
McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819
Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857
The Civil Rights Cases, 1883
Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
Schenck v United States, 1919
Powell v. Alabama, 1932
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954
Mapp v. Ohio, 1961
Engel v. Vitale, 1962
Miranda v. Arizona, 1966
New York Times Co. v United States, 1971
Roe v. Wade, 1973
New Jersey v. T.L.O., 1985
Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health,
1990
United States v. American Library Association, 2003
United States v. Eichman, 1990
U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 1993
Printz v. United States, 1997
Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, 2002
Oregon v. Mitchell, 1970
Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC, 2000
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of N.Y., Inc. v.
Village of Stratton, 2002
Flast v. Cohen, 1968
Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States, 1964
Watkins v. United States, 1957
Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 1982
Rostker v. Goldberg, 1981
Korematsu v. United States, 1944
Tinker v. Des Moines School District, 1969
Illinois v. Wardlow, 2000
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 1978
Shelley v. Kraemer, 1948
Baker v. Carr, 1962
Muller v. Oregon, 1908*
Gideon v. Wainwright, 1963*
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania et al.
v. Casey,1992 *
Loving v. Virginia, 1967*
Cleveland Bd. of Ed. v. LaFleur, 1974*
Romer v. Evans, 1996*
Grutter v. Bollinger, 2003*
Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, 2004*
* These cases are of high interest topics. My support materials are different for them and therefore these will
be more challenging. For Example, instead of just answering the discussion questions, you must create your
own discussion questions and then answer them. Extra Credit, to a limited degree, will be offered for those
groups choosing these cases.
Project Work Time: We will be in the library on Tuesday, October 16th, Wednesday, October 17th, and
Tuesday, October 23rd. Any additional work must be completed at home on your own time.
Project Due Date: Presentations will take place beginning Wednesday, October 24th and continuing on
Thursday, October 25th, and Friday, October 26th.
You must be ready to present on Wednesday, October 24th. The presenters will be chosen randomly, and if
you don’t have your material, you will have to present at a later date and will be deducted 25%.
You NEED to come to me prior to Wednesday to make sure your presentation works on my computer.
You can send it to me via email or bring it on a flash drive.
To minimize error, DO NOT SAVE AS PPTX. IT WILL NOT WORK IN THAT FORMAT.
To save as PPT: When you click on “Save as” in the file drop-down menu choose the version compatible
with word ’97.