Court Cases Flashcards
McCulloch vs Maryland (1819)
FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONS- The Constitution’s “necessary and proper” clause permits Congress to take actions (in this case, a national bank) when it is essential to a power that Congress has (in this case, managing currency).
Gibbons vs. Ogden (1824)
FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONS- The Constitution’s commerce clause gives the national government exclusive power to regulate interstate commerce.
Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railroad v. Illinois (1886)
FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONS- The states may not regulate interstate commerce.
United States v. Lopez (1995)
FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONS- The national government’s power under the commerce clause does not permit it to regulate matters not directly related to interstate commerce (In this case, banning firearms in a school zone)
Gitlow v. New York (1925)
INCORPORATION- Supreme Court says the First Amendment applies to states.
Palko v. Connecticut (1937)
INCORPORATION- Supreme Court says that states must observe all “fundamental” liberties.
Schenck v. United States (1919)
FREE SPEECH- Speech may be punished if it creates a clear-and-present-danger test of illegal acts.
Caplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)
FREE SPEECH- “Fighting words” are not protected by the First Amendment.
New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
FREE SPEECH- To libel a public figure, there must be “actual malice.”
Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)
FREE SPEECH- Public school students may wear armbands to class protesting against America’s war in Vietnam when such a display does not disrupt class.
Miller v. California (1973)
FREE SPEECH- Obscenity defined as appealing to prurient interests of an average person with materials that lack literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
FREE SPEECH- There may not be a law to ban flag-burning.
Reno v. ACLU (1997)
FREE SPEECH- A law that bands sending “indecent” material to minors over the internet is unconstitutional because “indecent” is too vague and broad a term.
McConnell v. Federal Election Commission (2003)
FREE SPEECH- Upholds 2002 campaign finance reform law.
FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life (2007)
FREE SPEECH- Prohibits campaign finance reform law from banning political advocacy.
Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925)
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM- Though states may require public education, they may not require that students attend only public schools.
Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM- The wall-of-separation principle is announced.
Zorauch v. Clauson (1952)
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM- States may allow students to be released from public schools to attend religious instruction.
Engel v. Vitale (1962)
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM- There may not be a prayer, even a nondenominational one, in public schools.
Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM- Three tests are described for deciding whether the government is improperly involved with religion.
Lee v. Weisman (1992)
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM- Public schools may not have clergy lead prayers at graduation ceremonies.
Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000)
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM- Students may not lead prayers before the start of a football game at a public school.
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002)
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM- Voucher plan to pay school bills is upheld.
Mapp. v. Ohio (1961)
CRIMINAL CHARGES- Evidence illegally gathered by the police may not be used in a criminal trial.
Gideon v. Wainwright (1964)
CRIMINAL CHARGES- Persons charged with a crime have a right to an attorney even if they cannot afford one.
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
CRIMINAL CHARGES- Court describes ruling that police must give to arrested persons.
United States v. Leon (1984)
CRIMINAL CHARGES- Illegally obtained evidence may be used in a trial if it was gathered with good faith without violating the principles of Mapp. v. Ohio.
Dickerson v. United States (2000)
CRIMINAL CHARGES- The Mapp decision is based on the constitution and it cannot be altered by Congress passing a law.
Rasul v. Bush and Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004)
CRIMINAL CHARGES- Terrorist detainees must have access to a neutral court to decide if they are legally held.
Dred Scott Case (Scott v. Sanford, 1857)
CIVIL RIGHTS- Congress had no authority to ban slavery in a territory. A slave was considered a piece of property.
Plessey v. Ferguson (1896)
CIVIL RIGHTS- Upheld separate-but-equal facilities for white and black people on railroad cars.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
CIVIL RIGHTS- Said separate public schools are inherently unequal, thus starting racial desegregation.
Green v. County School Board of New Kent County (1968)
CIVIL RIGHTS- Banned a freedom-of-choice plan for integrating schools, suggesting blacks and whites must attend racially mixed schools.