Supreme Court
Cases
Marbury v. Madison
● Established principle of Judicial Review
● Strengthened Judicial Branch by giving
Supreme Court authority to declare acts of
Congress unconstitutional
McCulloch v. Maryland
● Confirmed right of Congress to utilize implied
powers to carry out its expressed powers.
● Validated the supremacy of the national
government over the states, states can’t
interfere with or tax the legitimate activities
of the federal government.
Gibbons v. Ogden
● Strengthened Federal government to
regulate interstate commerce.
● Established the commerce clause’s role as a
key vehicle for expansion of federal power.
Engel v. Vitale
● Struck down state-sponsored prayer in
public schools.
● Ruled the Regent’s prayer was
unconstitutional- violated the Establishment
Clause.
Lemon v. Kurtzman
● Struck down state-sponsored prayer in
public schools.
● Ruled that state aid to church related
schools must have: Secular reasoning,
Action (Gov.) cannot advance nor inhibit
religion, Gov. acton cannot foster “excessive
entanglement” between government and
religion.
Reynolds v. U.S.
● Banned Polygamy
● Distinguished between religious beliefs that
are protected by the Free Exercise Clause
and religious practices that may be
restricted.
● Ruled religious practices cannot make an act
legal that would otherwise be illegal.
Oregon v. Smith
● Banned use of illegal drugs in religious
ceremonies.
● Ruled the government can act when
religious practices violate criminal laws.
Schenk v. U.S.
● Free Speech could be limited when it
“presents a clear and present danger…”
● Established “clear and present danger” test
to define conditions under which public
authorities can limit free speech.
NY Times v. Sullivan
● Ruled public officials cannot win a suit fr
defamation unless the statement is made
with “actual malice.”
● Established the “actual Malice” standard to
promote “uninhibited, robust, and wide-open”
public debate.
Roth v. U.S.
● Ruled that obscenity is not constitutionally
protected free speech.
● Created the “prevailing community
standards” which requires a consideration of
the work as a while.
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent
School District
● Protected some forms of symbolic speech.
● Ruled that students do not “shed their
constitutional rights to freedom of speech or
expression at the schoolhouse gate. “
Texas v. Johnson
● Ruled flag burning is symbolic speech
protected by the First Amendment.
Barron v. Baltimore
● Ruled the Bill of Rights cannot be applied to
the states.
Gitlow v. NY
● Established precedent for selective
incorporations, this extended most
requirements of the Bill of Rights to the
states.
Weeks v. U.S.
● Established exclusionary rule in federal
cases.
● Prohibited evidence obtained by illegal
searches and seizures from being admitted
in court.
Mapp v. Ohio
● Extended the exclusionary rule to the states.
● Illustrated the process of selective.
incorporation through the Due Process
Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Gideon v. Wainwright
● 6th Amendment right to counsel provision
applies to those accused of major crimes
under state laws.
● Showed how the 6th Amendment applied to
states through the Due Process Clause of
14th Amendment.
Miranda v. AZ
● Police must inform criminal suspects of their
constitutional rights before questioning
suspect after arrest.
● Required police to read the Miranda rules to
criminal suspects.
Dred Scott v. Sandford
● African Americans were not citizens and
could not petition the Supreme Court.
● Overturned by 14 Amendment.
Plessy v. Ferguson
● Upheld Jim Crow segregation by approving
“separate but equal” facilities for African
Americans.
Brown v. Board of Education of
Topeka
● Racially segregated schools violated the
Equal Protection Clause of the 14th
Amendment.
● Reversed the principle of “separate but
equal”.
Regents of UofCalifornia v. Bakke
● School had to admit Bakke or else it dented
him the equal protection guaranteed by the
14th amendment.
● Race could be a factor for competition for
available places.
Grutter v. Bollinger
● Upheld affirmative action policy of
UofMichigan Law School.
● Upheld the Bakke ruling that race could be
considerations in admission policy but
quotas are illegal.
Griswold v. Connecticut
● Connecticut law criminalizing the use of
contraceptives violated the right to marital
privacy.
● Established important precedent for Roe v.
Wade.
Roe v. Wade
● Ruled that decision to obtain abortion is
protected by right to privacy implied by Bill of
Rights.
Baker v. Carr
● Judicial branch of government can rule on
matter of legislative apportionment.
● Ordered state legislative districts to be as
equal as possible.
● Used principle of “one person, one vote”.
Wesberry v. Sanders
● Established principle of “one person, one
vote” in drawing congressional districts.
● Triggered widespread redistricting that gave
cities and suburbs greater representation in
Congress.
Korematsu v. U.S.
● Upheld relocation of Japanese Americans as
a wartime necessity.
● Viewed by contemporary scholars as a
flagrant violation of civil liberties.
U.S. v. Nixon
● Upheld there is no constitutional guarantee
of unqualified executive privilege.
Buckley v. Valeo
● Upheld federal limits on campaign
contributions.
● Ruled that spending money on one’s own
campaign is protected by free speech.
● Struck down on a portion of the Federal
Election Campaign Act. Limited amount of $
individuals can give to their own campaign.