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
NC STATE
CASE
Swann v.
QUESTIONSPART OF
CONST.
Presidential
power ---checks and
balances –
gave Supreme
Court power.
14TH
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.
VERY IMPORTANT NC STATE CASE
1
OUTCOME OF
CASE/SIGNIFICANCE
JUDICIAL REVIEW
(where the Supreme Court
can declare laws
unconstitutional).
Gave USSC POWER
ALLOWS
SEGREGATION that is
sep but =
LOL!!!
ENDS SCHOOL
SEGREGATION
FEDERAL COURTS CAN
TELL STATES TO END
SEGREGATION…
CharlotteMecklenburg
Board of Ed
Dealt with “Bus 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.
Furman v.
Was no real
SEGREGATION
GUN GOES OFF WHEN DROPPED,
KILLING PERSON. Furman gets death
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 of 1964
TH
8 ,14th
SUPREME COURT SAID
THEY HAD TO ACCEPT
ALL CITIZENS -- all
public facilities had to
accept all citizens. 9-0
DEATH PENALTY CAN
BE CRUEL AND
Georgia
penalty.
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.
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
denied admission. He suits claiming
Rights act of
discrimination because several African
1964.
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
accused of smoking in the girls room at her
high school. A principal then questioned
her and 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.
Did the search
violate the 4th
and 14th
amendments?
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.
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.
1st amendment. FLAG BURNING IS
LEGAL
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.
5TH
AMENDMEN
T – DUE
PROCESS
Miranda wins. A PERSON
MUST BE READ HIS
RIGHTS WHILE BEING
ARRESTED.
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?
4TH
AMENDMEN
T
No. NEED A SEARCH
WARRANT OR
EVIDENCE CANNOT BE
USED!
Dred Scott a slave -- his owner dies in a
free state. Dred then sues the Supreme
Court for his freedom.
Missouri
Compromise
because there
was no 14th
Amendment
yet.
Slaves were not people, but
property. This is a proslavery 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.
Watergate audiotapes of Nixon (oops).
Nixon states that "Executive Privilege"
allows him to withold tapes from
investigators.
Article I and II
of the
Constitution
dealing with
Congress, the
President, and
7-2
NY Times wins 6-3.
Proves freedom of the
press since the publication
did not result in the
immediate harm to the
people.
Court ruled against Nixon.
Took power away from the
President and gave more
authority to Congress.
Solidified Checks and
Balances.
Roe v. Wade
Roe wanted to be allowed to have an
abortion but it was against Texas law.
McCulloch v.
Maryland, 1819
National/Federal Bank versus
Maryland’s(State) right to tax the bank
Gibbons v Ogden 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.
State v Mann
NC State Case
Executive
power.
14th and 9th.
Necessary and
Proper/
Supremacy
Clause
In 1829, Elizabeth Jones, who owned a
State
slave named Lydia, hired her out for a year Constitutional
to John Mann of Chowan County. Mann
Supremacy
Abortions are legal in the
1st trimester and in the
second and third in certain
circumstances (ie. if
mother's life is at risk)
7-2
Necessary and Proper to
establish banks
Supremacy
Supremacy Clause
shot and wounded Lydia when she
over Superior
struggled to escape a whipping. Mann was Court/local law
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.