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Landmark Supreme Court Cases: CIVIL LIBERTIES
Right or Principle
Defined
Landmark Cases
Relevant
Amendment(s),
Article, and/or
Clause
1
Nationalization
/ incorporation
of Bill of Rights
2
14th – Due
Process Clause
3
Engel v. Vitale
(1962)
1st –
Establishment
Clause
4
Freedom of
religion
Significance
May a state pass a law
restricting a right protected
by the Bill of Rights?
Bill of Rights restrained
only the national
government, not states
and cities.
Set a precedent for a
century that the Bill of
Rights only applied to
fed, not state, gov.
May states pass laws
restricting speech
protected by the 1st
Amendment?
States may not pass
laws restricting the right
of free expression
protected by the 1st
Amendment.
First case to
nationalize /
incorporate the Bill of
Rights – in this case,
freedom of speech.
May states require children
to voluntarily recite prayers
in public schools?
States may not require
students to recite a
nondenominational
prayer in public schools
at start of school day
Strengthened “wall of
separation” between
church and state.
Is school-sponsored Bible
reading in public schools
unconstitutional?
School-sponsored Bible
reading in public schools
is unconstitutional. The
establishment clause
requires government to
remain neutral in
religion, not just avoid
setting up an official
church.
Strengthened “wall of
separation” between
church and state.
Barron v.
Baltimore (1833)
Nationalization
/ incorporation
of Bill of
Gitlow v. New York
Rights,
(1925)
freedom of
speech
Freedom of
religion
Majority Opinion,
including Key Concepts
Question/Issue Addressed
Abington
Township School
District v. Schempp
(1963)
1st –
Establishment
Clause
Illustration
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Right or Principle
Defined
Landmark Cases
Relevant
Amendment(s),
Article, and/or
Clause
5
Freedom of
religion
Lemon v.
Kurtzman (1973)
1st –
Establishment
Clause
6
Freedom of
religion
Reynolds v. United
States (1879)
1st – Free
Exercise Clause
7
Freedom of
religion
Employment
Division of Oregon
v. Smith (1988)
1st – Free
Exercise Clause
8
Freedom of
speech
Schenk v. United
States (1919)
1st – Free Speech
Question/Issue Addressed
Majority Opinion,
including Key Concepts
Significance
Does federal government
aid to church-related
schools violate the
separation of church and
state?
Forbid state-funding of
parochial private
schools. But some
government aid to
churches is allowed if
conditions of Lemon
test are met.
Clarified boundary
between church and
state when fed. gov.
provides aid to
church-related
schools.
Does a federal law
prohibiting polygamy
violate Mormons’ right to
practice polygamy?
Federal laws may ban
certain religious
practices so long as
neutral on religious
beliefs.
Narrowed the
protections granted
by the free exercise
clause of freedom of
religion.
Does an Oregon law
outlawing the use of
peyote in Native American
religious ceremonies
violate the free exercise
clause?
Upheld state law
denying unemployment
benefits to workers
fired for using drugs,
even though Smith was
using the drug (peyote)
as part of a religious
ceremony.
Narrowed the
protections granted
by the free exercise
clause of freedom of
religion.
Is distributing leaflets in
wartime urging youth to
resist the draft a form of
free speech protected by
the 1st Amendment?
Holmes: Gov. may limit
free speech if it
provokes a “clear and
present danger” of a
threat to public order.
Weakened
protections given free
speech during war if
gov. claims would
harm national
security.
Illustration
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Right or Principle
Defined
Landmark Cases
Relevant
Amendment(s),
Article, and/or
Clause
9
Freedom of
speech
Tinker v. Des
Moines School
District (1969)
1st – Free Speech
10
Freedom of
Speech
Texas v. Johnson
(1989)
Buckley v. Valeo
(1976)
Freedom of
speech
Citizens United v
FEC (2010)
1st – Free Speech
Significance
The wearing of
armbands to public
school to protest a war
is symbolic speech, not
just action, and
therefore protected.
Broadened definition
of protected speech
to include symbolic
speech.
Is flag burning a form of
free speech protected by
the 1st Amendment?
Flag burning is symbolic
speech, not just action,
and therefore protected
speech.
Broadened definition
of protected speech
to include symbolic
speech.
Are campaign contributions
by individuals a form of
free speech protected by
the 1st Amendment?
Individual donations to
one’s own campaign is a
form of protected
speech which gov may
not limit. But individual
contributions to
presidential &
congressional
candidates are not
speech & may be
limited.
Independent
electioneering
expenditures by
corporations are a form
of free speech protected
by the 1st Amendment.
Struck down part of
Bipartisan Campaign
Reform Act.
Broadened definition
of protected free
speech to include
donating to one’s own
campaign, limiting
effectiveness of
campaign finance
reform.
1st – Free Speech
12
Majority Opinion,
including Key Concepts
Is wearing of armbands to
school to protest a war a
form of free speech
protected by the 1st
Amendment?
1st – Free speech
11
Freedom of
speech
Question/Issue Addressed
Are independent
electioneering
expenditures by
corporations a form of free
speech protected by the 1st
Amendment?
Broadened definition
of free speech to
include independent
electioneering
expenditures by
corporations, limiting
the effectiveness of
campaign finance
reforms.
Illustration
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Right or Principle
Defined
Landmark Cases
Relevant
Amendment(s),
Article, and/or
Clause
13
Freedom of
the press
Near v. Minnesota,
(1931)
New York Times
Co. v. U.S. (1971)
1st- Freedom of
the press
15
Freedom of
the press
Roth v. U.S. (1957)
Right to
assemble,
associate, and
petition
NAACP v. Alabama
(1958)
1st- Right to
assemble,
associate, and
petition gov.
Significance
Newspapers’ calling
local officials names is a
form of protected
speech which states
may not abridge.
Incorporated 1st’
Amendment’s
freedom of the press
to the states.
Expanded protections
given freedom of the
press.
May the government
prevent publication of the
leaked Pentagon papers in
the name of protecting
national security?
Preventing publication
of the leaked Pentagon
papers in the name of
protecting national
security would
constitute prior
restraint and is not
allowed.
Expanded the right to
freedom of the press
vs. government
censorship in name of
national security.
May the government
prohibit literary erotica and
nude photos?
Obscenity is not a form
of speech protected by
the 1st Amendment and
may be restricted.
Narrowed the right to
freedom of the press
to exclude obscenity.
May AL require NAACP, a
civil rights organization, to
turn over its membership
list?
State efforts to require
groups to disclose their
membership lists violate
individuals’ right to
freedom of association.
Incorporated the 1st
Amendment’s
freedom of
association to the
states. Expanded
protections given
freedom of
association.
1st- Freedom of
the press
16
Majority Opinion,
including Key Concepts
May a state close a
newspaper that calls local
officials names?
1st- Freedom of
the press
14
Freedom of
the press
Question/Issue Addressed
Illustration
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Right or Principle
Defined
Landmark Cases
Relevant
Amendment(s),
Article, and/or
Clause
17
Rights of the
accused
(unreasonable
search and
seizure)
4th
Mapp v. Ohio
(1965)
– protection
from
unreasonable
searches and
seizures
18
Rights of the
accused (selfincrimination)
Miranda v. Arizona
(1966)
5th – not
required to
testify against
oneself
19
Rights of the
accused (Right
to counsel)
Gideon v.
Wainwright (1963)
6th – right to
legal counsel
20
Rights of the
accused (cruel
and unusual
punishment)
Gregg v. Georgia
(1976)
8th – no cruel
and unusual
punishments
Question/Issue Addressed
Majority Opinion,
including Key Concepts
Significance
May the police use
evidence obtained without
probable cause in court?
Applied the exclusionary
rule to the states:
Evidence seized during
an illegal search
(without probable
cause/warrant) cannot
be used in court.
Broadened the 5th
Amendment’s
protection from
unreasonable search
and seizure.
Must police inform criminal
suspects of their
constitutional rights before
questioning them?
Police must inform
criminal suspects of
their constitutional
rights during upon
arrest before
questioning them.
Broadened protection
from selfincrimination by
establishing guidelines
for police questioning.
Does the right to counsel
apply to defendants in
felony cases too poor to
afford a lawyer?
States must provide
defendants with lawyer
in felony cases if
defendant cannot afford
one.
Incorporated 6th
Amendment’s right to
legal counsel to the
states. Broadened
definition of right to
counsel to felony
cases.
Does the death penalty
constitute a form of cruel
and unusual punishment?
The death penalty does
not constitute a form of
cruel and unusual
punishment, so it does
not violate the 8th
Amendment.
Narrowed definition
of cruel and unusual
punishment, giving
states more room to
use the death penalty.
Illustration
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Right or Principle
Defined
Landmark Cases
Relevant
Amendment(s),
Article, and/or
Clause
21
Right to
privacy, civil
rights for
women
Griswold v.
Connecticut (1965)
1st, 3rd, 4th, and
9th (implied right
to privacy)
22
Right to
privacy, civil
rights for
women
Roe v. Wade
(1973)
1st, 3rd, 4th, and
9th (implied right
to privacy)
Question/Issue Addressed
Majority Opinion,
including Key Concepts
Significance
Does a CT law prohibiting
the use of contraceptives
violate marital privacy
rights?
Struck down a CT law
prohibiting the use of
contraceptives as a
violation of the privacy
rights of married
couples.
Established that the
1st, 3rd, 4th, and 9th
Amendments imply a
right to privacy.
Incorporated the right
of privacy to the
states.
May a state ban abortions
except to save the life of a
mother?
Struck down a TX law
banning abortions as a
violation of right to
privacy. Legalized
abortions within first
trimester.
Broadened the scope
of the right to privacy
to include abortions
within first trimester.
Illustration