LANDMARK SUPREME COURT CASES
NAME AND
DATE OF CASE
Marbury v.
Madison
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF CASE
PRESIDENT JOHN ADAMS APPOINTS
PEOPLE TO HIGH POSITIONS
THEN LEAVES OFFICE HOURS
LATER.
Jefferson refuses to appoint them.
Plessy v. Ferguson African Americans could be provided
1896
“separate but equal” public facilities.
SEGREGATION IS OK.
Brown v. Board of
Education of
Topeka, Kansas
1954
Swann v.
CharlotteMecklenburg
Board of Ed
QUESTIONS/
PART OF
CONSTITUTION
OUTCOME OF
CASE/SIGNIFICANCE
Presidential power
---- checks and
balances – gave
Supreme Court
power.
JUDICIAL REVIEW
(where the Supreme
Court can declare laws
unconstitutional).
14TH
ALLOWS
SEGREGATION that is
sep but =
Overturned Plessy by saying you can never 14TH
have “separate but equal”.
Ends segregation in and on public grounds
and begins integration in schools.
1965 BUSING. SEGREGATION.
14TH
AMENDMENT
VERY IMPORTANT NC STATE CASE
ENDS SCHOOL
SEGREGATION
FEDERAL COURTS
CAN TELL STATES
TO END
SEGREGATION…
Gibbons owned a ferry operation with a
Gibbons v. Ogden federal license, and Ogden had a NY
license to do the same thing. Ogden tried
to shut down the Gibbons ferry, and
Gibbons sued to the Supreme Court.
Korematsu v. US
Japanese internment camps during WWII.
Heart of Atlanta HOTEL REFUSED TO serve AFRICAN
Motel, Inc. v. US AMERICANS.
1964.
Article I, section 8
– “the commerce
clause”. AND
Supremacy Clause
Gibbons wins – The
Supreme Court said the
NATIONAL
GOVERNMENT
REGULATES
INTERSTATE
COMMERCE/
Supremacy
WAR POWERS,
14TH
ALLOWS FOR
JAPANESE
AMERICAN
INTERNMENT
CAMPS.
14TH and Civil Rights Act SUPREME COURT
of 1964
SAID THEY HAD TO
ACCEPT ALL
CITIZENS -- all public
facilities had to accept
all citizens.
Furman v.
Georgia
GUN GOES OFF WHEN DROPPED,
KILLING PERSON. Furman gets death
penalty.
TH
8 , 14th
Death penalty
Gregg kills two people in a robbery. Is the
Gregg v. Georgia death penalty cruel and unusual in all
8TH
cases?
Gideon v.
Wainwright
Regents of the
University of
California v.
Bakke
New Jersey v.
T.L.O.
POOR GUY DIDN’T HAVE LAWYER
AND WAS FOUND GUILTY.
6TH, Was retried
with an attorney
and found
innocent.
DEATH PENALTY
CAN BE CRUEL AND
UNUSUAL IN
CERTAIN CASES.
DEATH PENALTY IN
ITSELF IS NOT
CRUEL AND
UNUSUAL.
EVERYONE HAS A
RIGHT TO A
LAWYER – EVEN
POOR PEOPLE.
Bakke (white guy) applies to college and is 14th, Civil Rights
denied admission. He sues claiming
act of 1964.
discrimination because several African
Americans with lower test scores are
accepted.
AFFIRMATIVE
ACTION IS OK, BUT
NO QUOTAS
T.L.O. was a 14-year-old girl who was
Did the search
accused of smoking in the restroom at
violate the 4th and
school. A principal questioned her and
14th amendments?
searched her purse, yielding marijuana and
other drug items plus a list of buyers.
No. STUDENTS CAN BE
SEARCHED WITHOUT
PROBABLE CAUSE ON
SCHOOL GROUNDS.
Bethel School
District v. Frasier
Tinker v. Des
Moines
Hazelwood v.
Kuhlmeier
1st amendment
SCHOOLS MAY
PROHIBIT VULGAR
AND OFFENSIVE
LANGUAGE.
1st amendment
STUDENTS MAY
WEAR ARMBANDS
TO PROTEST.
1st amendment
PRINCIPALS HAVE
THE RIGHT TO EDIT
/ CENSOR STUDENT
SPEECH.
1st amendment.
FLAG BURNING IS
LEGAL
5TH
AMENDMENT –
DUE PROCESS
Miranda wins. A
PERSON MUST BE
READ HIS RIGHTS
WHILE BEING
ARRESTED.
Student gives speech to 11-14 yr olds with
sexual innuendo.
Students wear black arm bands to protest
the Vietnam war.
Students publish articles about teen
pregnancy and divorced parents in the
student newspaper.
Texas v. Johnson Johnson burns a flag in protest.
Miranda v.
Arizona
Ernesto Miranda arrested for kidnapping
and rape – found guilty after signed
confession. Police admitted that Miranda
had not been advised of his right to an
attorney during questioning.
Mapp v. Ohio
Dred Scott v.
Sandford
NY Times v. US
US v. Nixon
Police search a house without a search
warrant, and find pornographic materials
even though they were looking for a
fugitive. Is this evidence admissible in
court?
Dred Scott a slave -- his owner dies in a
free state. Dred then sues the Supreme
Court for his freedom.
4TH
AMENDMENT
No. NEED A SEARCH
WARRANT OR
EVIDENCE CANNOT
BE USED!
Missouri
Compromise
because there was
no 14th
Amendment yet.
Slaves were not people,
but property. This is a
pro-slavery court
decision. Roger B.
Taney was Chief
Justice.
Pentagon Papers (classified info.) was
1st
leaked to the NY Times. New York Times
then prints information, and the United
States takes them to the Supreme Court.
NY Times wins 6-3.
Proves freedom of the
press since the
publication did not
result in the immediate
harm to the people.
Watergate audiotapes of Nixon (oops).
Nixon states that "Executive Privilege"
allows him to withhold tapes from
investigators.
Court ruled against Nixon.
Took power away from the
President and gave more
authority to Congress.
Solidified Checks and
Balances.
Article I and II of
the Constitution
dealing with
Congress, the
President, and
Executive power.
Roe v. Wade
Roe wanted to be allowed to have an
abortion but it was against Texas law.
14th and 9th.
McCulloch v.
Maryland, 1819
National/Federal Bank versus
Maryland’s(State) right to tax the bank
Necessary and
Proper Clause
When a federal and state law are in
conflict, the federal law is supreme
Gibbons had a federal permit for a
steamboat business; Ogden had a state
permit for the same waters. Siding with
Gibbons, the Court said that, in matters of
interstate commerce, the “Supremacy
Clause” tilts the balance of power in favor
of federal legislation.
Supremacy Clause National Supremacy
Gibbons v Ogden
Abortions are legal in
the 1st trimester and in
the second and third in
certain circumstances
(ie. if mother's life is at
risk)
Necessary and Proper
to establish banks
State v Mann
NC State Case
In 1829, Elizabeth Jones, who owned a
slave named Lydia, hired her out for a year
to John Mann of Chowan County. Mann
shot and wounded Lydia when she
struggled to escape a whipping. Mann was
found guilty of battery by a jury of twelve
white men drawn from his community and
the court (Superior Court Judge Joseph J.
Daniel) imposed a five dollar fine. The
North Carolina Supreme Court overruled
the conviction on the grounds that slaves
were the absolute property of their owners
who could not be punished at common law
unless the legislature authorized such
punishment.
State
Constitutional
Supremacy over
Superior
Court/local law
Supremacy Clause