AP Exam Review
 Chief Justice John Marshall
 Appointed by President John Adams
 Turned the US Supreme Court into a coequal branch
of the federal government; strengthened the Supreme
Court at the expense of the other federal branches,
expanded federal power at the expense of states,
protected the terms of business contracts, and upheld
the loose interpretation of the Constitution’s elastic
clause.
 Chisolm v GA 1793 – citizens on one state have the
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right to sue another state in federal court
Marbury v Madison 1803 – doctrine of judicial review
is established
Dartmouth College v Woodward 1819 – Upheld the
validity of contracts
McCulloch v Maryland 1819 – Congress could charter a
bank under the necessary and proper clause of the
Constitution
Gibbon v Ogden 1824 – the federal government has the
authority to regulate interstate commerce
 Cherokee Nation v US 1831– first attempt by the
Cherokee nation to seek redress in its dealings with
the state of GA over land confiscation
 Worcester v GA 1832 – federal jurisdiction over Indian
affairs is absolute, leaving no room for state authority;
generally ignored by Georgia
 Ex Parte Merryman 1861 – a person could not be
denied a writ of habeas corpus if arrested; (case grew
out of the decision by Lincoln to suspend the writ of
habeas corpus in Maryland)
 Ex Parte Milligan 1866 – military tribunal cannot try
civilians, even during wartime, in areas where civil
courts are open
 Texas v White 1869 – states cannot secede from the
Union
 Hepburn v Griswold 1870 – decided against the use of
paper money as legal tender
 Knox v Lee 1871 – reversed the Hepburn case above;
advocated using paper currency
 Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway Co v Illinois
1886 – individual states had no power to regulate
interstate commerce
 Pollock v Farmers Loan and Trust Company 1895 –
declared the first federal income tax law
unconsitutional
 Northern Securities Co v US 1904 – a holding company
formed for the express purpose of limiting
competition is guilty of restraint of trade and in
violation of the federal antitrust acts
 Schenck v US 1919 – freedom of speech may be
curtailed if exercising that right posed a “clear and
present danger” to others or to the state
 Smith v Allwright 1944 – overruled practices like the
“all-white” primary in choosing state and national
officials
 Korematsu v US 1944 – upheld the 1942 removal of
Japanese-Americans to relocation centers in inland
camps; declared within the combined war powers of
Congress
 Chief Justice Earl Warren
 Appointed by President Eisenhower
 The Warren Court served during an era of democratic
progress especially in the area of rights of minority
groups and for individuals.
 Mapp v Ohio 1961 – illegally obtained evidence may
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not be used as evidence in a state criminal proceeding
Engle v Vitale 1962 – ended public school prayer
Baker v Carr 1962 – allowed the question of
reapportionment to be brought up in federal courts
Gideon v Wainwright 1963 – court-appointed attorney
if defendant were unable to pay for their own
Escobedo v Illinois 1964 – police may not use
information from prosecution that was obtained from
a suspect who was not first advised of his right to
counsel
 Miranda v AZ 1966 – expanded the Escobedo ruling by
adding that a suspect must also be informed of his
right to remain silent
 Chief Justice Warren Burger
 Appointed by President Nixon
 The appointment of Warren Burger to Chief Justice
was seen my many as a return to “strict construction”
and judicial self restraint. Many thought that the
Warren Court was too eager to impose liberal social
theories to the laws and Constitution.
• New York Times v US 1971 – protected 1st Amendment
freedom of the press regarding the publishing of the
Pentagon papers
• Furman v GA 1972 – nullified the death penalty in the
US for being to capriciously applied (to the
poor/black)
• Roe v Wade 1973 – legalized abortion through the
second trimester of pregnancy; right to privacy
• Gregg v GA 1976 – Supreme Court ruled that death
penalty my be carried out in some states that had
• University of California v Bakke 1978 – overturned
racial quotas for some admissions programs; “reverse
discrimination” case
• New Jersey v T.L.O 1985 – searching a student’s
handbag is justified if there is a reasonable grounds for
suspecting the search will yield evidence that laws or
school rules are being broken
 Chief Justice William H Rehnquist
 Appointed by President Reagan
 Texas v Johnson 1989 – upheld the freedom of
speech/expression when court ruled that individuals
could burn the US flag in protest.
 Ewing v CA 2003 – upholds California’s “Three-Strike”
law (life imprisonment when convicted of third felony)