UNIT 4: SECTION 2
JUDICIAL BRANCH:
SUPREME COURT CASES
Essential Questions:
How do precedent cases redefine the
nature of the constitution, its treaties and
laws?
1
The Unalienable Rights
• The process of incorporation
– Most of the Bill of Rights
protections have been incorporated
but the court chooses to do so on a
case-by-case basis (see the chart on p.
536 for specifics)
• Key Incorporation Cases (look them up in
the Supreme Court Glossary pp. 799-806)
• Gitlow v. New York
• Mapp v. Ohio
• Gideon v. Wainwright
2
Freedom of Speech and Press
– Symbolic Speech: the
ability to express oneself
through the use of
symbols, uniforms, signs,
etc.
• The government tries to
protect symbolic speech so
that citizens are free to
express themselves and
speak out against the
government
– The burning of the
American flag is protected
as free speech
• Texas v. Johnson
3
Freedom of Religion
• Supreme Court and the
Freedom of Religion
– The SC has reviewed
many cases in an
attempt to define the
separation of church and
state
• Key Cases to Review
– Engle v. Vitale
– Good News Club v.
Milford Central High
School
4
Freedom of Religion
• The Lemon Test
– The SC created a test to decide
cases involving the Establishment
Clause and federal money being
used for religious programs
• Based on the case Lemon v.
Kurtzman
– Three Part Test
1.
2.
3.
The purpose of the aid must be
clearly secular, not religious
Its primary effect must neither
advance nor inhibit religion
It must avoid “excessive”
entanglement of government
with religion
5
The Rights of the Accused
– Right to Adequate Defense
• 6th Amendment guarantees
– defendant must be informed of the
nature and cause of the accusation
– Be confronted with the witnesses
against him
– May call upon favorable witness to
argue on his behalf
– The right to counsel
– Key Supreme Court Cases
 Gideon v. Wainwright
 Escobedo v. Illinois
6
The Rights of the Accused
– Protection against selfincrimination
• 5th Amendment protection
• When prosecuting a person, the
burden of proof rests on the
prosecution
• Persons cannot be forced to
confess under duress (torture
or threats)
• Key Supreme Court Cases
 Miranda v. Arizona
 Ashcraft v. Tennessee
 Escobedo v. Illinois
7
Freedom and Security of the Person
– Exclusionary Rule
• Evidence collected in an
unlawful manner is
deemed inadmissible and
cannot be used at the trial
• Key Exclusionary Rule
Cases
– Weeks v. United States
– Mapp v. Ohio
• Further clarifications of
the Exclusionary Rule
– “Inevitable Discovery
Exception”
• Tainted evidence may be
used if it would eventually
been discovered using
lawful means
– “Good Faith Exception”
• If an officer is acting on
good faith (attempting to
follow the law) but makes a
reasonable mistake, the
evidence my still be used
8
Due Process of Law
• The Right to Privacy
– The thanks to SC
interpretations, the right
to due process also
provides the right to
privacy
• The most controversial
case of this interpretation
is Roe v. Wade
9
Equality Before the Law
• Segregation in America
– The US has a long history of
segregation (dividing people
based on race)
– Jim Crow Laws: laws that separate
people by race (specifically
targeted AA’s)
• Separate-but-Equal Doctrine
– Plessy v. Ferguson
• the Supreme Court initially said
that segregation was legal as long
as each group was given equal
facilities
• This was later struck down by
Brown v. Board of Education which
determined that schools could no
longer be segregated
10