Top 30 U.S. Supreme Court Cases
A.P. Government and Politics
Marbury v. Madison (judicial review)
McCulloch v. Maryland (nat'l government supreme)
Gibbons v. Ogden (expansion of fed. gov's power)
Engel v. Vitale (no prayer in public schools)
Lemon v. Kurtzman (no funding for private religious schools, unless certain steps are
followed)
Reynolds v U.S. (distinguished between religious beliefs and illegal acts- no polygamy)
Oregon v. Smith (gov can act when religious practices violate criminal laws)
Schenck v. U.S. ("clear and present danger" test established)
New York Times v. Sullivan ("actual malice" for defamation to be valid)
Roth v. U.S. ("prevailing community standards" established- no obscenities)
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District (1st amendment protected in
schools)
Texas v. Johnson (flag burning = 1st amendment right)
Barron v. Baltimore (Bill of Rights cannot be applied to states)
Gitlow v. New York (est. precedent for the doctrine of selective incorporation)
Weeks v. U.S. (exclusionary rule in federal cases- can't use evidence from illegal searches)
Mapp v. Ohio (extended exclusionary rule to the states)
Gideon v. Wainright (6th amendment right-to-counsel applies to those accused of major
crimes under state laws)
Miranda v. Arizona (criminal suspects must be informed of constitutional rights)
Dred Scott v. Sandford (African Americans not citizens; overturned by 14th amendment)
Plessy v. Ferguson ("separate but equal" doctrine upheld in public facilities)
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (overturned separate but equal- violate equal
protection clause)
Regents of the Univ. of California v. Bakke (quota system is illegal, but race CAN be
considered as one factor in admissions)
Grutter v. Bollinger (affirmative action allowed)
Griswold v. Connecticut (ban on contraceptives violation of marital privacy)
Roe v. Wade (abortion is protected by the implied right of privacy from the Bill of Rights)
Baker v. Carr (one person, one vote- state legislative districts must be as equal as
possible)
Wesberry v. Sanders (one person, one vote- redrawing congressional districts)
Korematsu v. U.S. (upheld the constitutionality of the relocation of Japanese during WWII)
U.S. v. Nixon (no constitutional guarantee of unqualified executive privileges)
Buckley v. Valeo (donating to one's own campaign is a way of free speech protected by
the 1st amendment)