Supreme Court Case PowerPoint Project
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the nation, and therefore is the primary
overseer of the judicial branch of the government. The Supreme Court’s responsibilities
are relatively straight forward, with its most significant being judicial review. This process
gives the Supreme Court the power to determine whether existing laws are
unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has had an immeasurable impact on the American
political system by helping to maintain fairness and balance in the U.S. government. They
have overseen hundreds of national court cases, many of which have resulted in
decisions that have in some way affected virtually every member of society.
Your task to research one of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases listed below. You will
work with a partner to create a PowerPoint presentation displaying your research.
PowerPoint Requirements:
Slide 1- Title: Your names, case name, year of case, picture representing case
Slide 2- Background: What happened, why did the case reach the Supreme
Court?
Slide 3- Arguments of each side: Why/how was their right(s) violated?
Slide 4- Arguments of each side: Why/how did they NOT violate their right(s)
Slide 5- Issue: Question/issue being asked to the Supreme Court for it to decide
Slide 6- Verdict: What did the Supreme Court rule and why?
Slide 7- Importance: Importance of the outcome of the ruling- In what way did
this court ruling effect society?
Presentation Requirements:
-Demonstrate you are knowledgeable about the case
-Do not simply read verbatim from your notes or the PowerPoint- instead tell the
class about the case, ruling, and overall importance
-Speak loud and clear
1. Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857):
People of African descent that are
slaves, or were slaves and
subsequently freed; or their
descendants, cannot be U.S.
citizens. Consequently, they cannot
sue in federal courts. Also, slavery
cannot be outlawed in the western
territories before they access
statehood.
2. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896):
Segregated facilities for blacks and
whites are constitutional under the
doctrine of separate but equal.
3. United States v. Darby Lumber
Company (1941): Affirmed the
constitutionality of the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938 under The
Commerce Clause, since the act
prevented states from lowering
labor standards to gain commercial
advantage. Affirmed that control
over interstate commerce belongs
entirely to congress.
4. Korematsu v. United States
(1944): American citizens of
Japanese descent can be interned
and deprived of basic constitutional
rights; first application of the strict
scrutiny test.
5. Brown v. Board of Education
(1954): Segregated schools in the
several states are unconstitutional
in violation of the 14th
Amendment. Found that "The
"separate but equal" doctrine.
6. Mapp v. Ohio (1961): Evidence
obtained by searches and seizures
in violation of the United States
Constitution is inadmissible in a
criminal trial in a state court.
7. Gideon v. Wainwright (1963):
Anyone charged with a serious
criminal offense has the right to an
attorney and the state must provide
one if they are unable to afford
legal counsel.
8. Griswold v. Connecticut (1965):
Married people are entitled to use
contraception and making it a crime
to sell to them is unconstitutional.
9. Miranda v. Arizona (1966): Police
must advise criminal suspects of
their rights under the Constitution to
remain silent, to consult with a
lawyer and to have one appointed if
he is an indigent. The interrogation
must stop if the suspect states he or
she wishes to remain silent.
10. Loving v. Virginia (1967): Laws
that prohibit marriage between
races are unconstitutional.
11. Tinker v. Des Moines (1969):
Wearing armbands is a legitimate
form of protest under the First
Amendment, even on public school
grounds.
12. Phillips v. Martin Marietta
Corporation (1971): An employer
may not, in the absence of business
necessity, refuse to hire women with
pre-school-age children while hiring
men with such children.
13. Roe v. Wade (1973): Struck
down abortion laws restricting
abortion prior
to viability as unconstitutional,
prohibiting most restrictions in the
first trimester and permitting only
health-related restrictions in the
second.
14. United States v. Nixon (1974):
Ruled that the doctrine of executive
privilege is legitimate, however the
President cannot invoke it in
criminal cases to withhold evidence.
15. FCC v. Pacifica Foundation
(1978): Defined the power of the
FCC to regulate indecent
broadcasts, including the so-called
"seven dirty words" that could then
not be said on TV or radio.
16. Regents of California v. Bakke
(1978): Race based set-asides in
educational opportunities some race
usage in admission decisions.
17. New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985):
Involving schools’ rights in
searching students.
24. Gonzales v. Raich (2005):
Congress may ban the use
of marijuana even where states
approve its use for medicinal
purposes.
18. Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988):
Public school curricular
student newspapers that have not
been established as forums for
student expression are subject to a
lower level of First Amendment
protection than independent student
expression or newspapers
established (by policy or practice) as
forums for student expression.
25. Roper v. Simmons (2005): A
sentence of death may not be
imposed on juveniles.
26. Brown v. Entertainment
Merchants Association (2011):
Video games are protected forms of
media speech and states may not
ban the sale of them to minors.
19. Edwards v. Aguillard (1987):
Teaching creationism in public
schools is unconstitutional.
20. Texas v. Johnson (1989): Law
prohibiting burning of the American
flag is unconstitutional as violating
the First Amendment.
21. Cruzan v. Director, Missouri
Department of Health (1990):
Family having requested the
termination of life-sustaining
treatments of
their vegetative relative, the state
may constitutionally oppose this
request, for lack of evidence of a
clear earlier wish by said relative.
22. Vernonia School District 47J v.
Acton (1995): Schools may
implement random drug testing
upon students participating in
school-sponsored athletics.
23. Kelo v. New London (2005):
Upheld power of a local government
to seize property for economic
development purposes.
27. United States v. Antoine Jones
(2012): Attaching a GPS device to
a vehicle and then using the device
to monitor the vehicle’s movements
constitutes a search under the
Fourth Amendment.