Court Cases Flashcards
Marbury v. madison
established “judicial Review” concept
affirms the court’s position as a coequal branch of government having considerable influence on the politics of government and direction of public policy
McCulloch v. Maryland
defined “necessary and proper” clause and established the primacy of federal government power over state government
Gibbons v. Ogden
decided that only the national government can regulate interstate commerce, individual states cannot
US v. Lopez
reestablished some states rights that had been slowly diminishing due to the federal government using the interstate commerce clause to control more and more things
Congress passed Gun Free Zone Act, Lopez found in violation of it & was convicted. Court decided that the Act & law were unconstitutional because it violated the 10th amendment. rule that the act had nothing to do with interstate commerce & that authority to pass such legislation rested with the states
Engle v. Vitale
struck down mandatory prayer in school because it was in violation of the First Amendment’s separation of church & state
Lemon v. Kurtzman
rule that the state cannot give aid to religious things & parochial (church) schools.
established the Lemon Test to determine whether the establishment clause has been violated
- purpose of the legislation must be secular, not religious
- primary effect of legislation must neither advance nor inhibit religion
- legislation must avoid an excessive entanglement of government with religion
Reynolds v. US
ruled that a law banning polygamy was constitutional & that reynolds could not practice polygamy
Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith
ruled that illegal drugs were an okay basis for dismissing people
dealt with the practice of Native American Indians using peyote. Oregon refused to grant unemployment benefits because of this illegal drug
Gitlow v. New York
Gitlow was arrested because he was a socialist who advocated through speech speech and pamphlets, strikes and other civil actions that would accomplish his goals. Courts upheld that it was creating a dangerous tendency
Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire
established “fighting words doctrine” - words that can inflict injury or cause a breach of the peace can be regulated
court upheld Chaplinsky’s arrest conviction for calling a city official “a damned fascist” in a public place
Schenck v. US
gave government right to prosecute individuals who create a “clear and present danger”
Schenck mailed flyers to potential draftees urging them to defy the draft. he was arrested for violating the Espionage Act which makes draft resistance illegal. court equated Schenck’s actions to yelling fire in a darkened movie theatre
Tinker v. Des Moines
upheld symbolic speech. raised issue of whether students attending public schools were protected by Bill of Rights
Mary Beth Tinker was suspended from school for wearing a black armband protesting the Vietnam War. Court deemed that the suspension was unjustified because the black armband represented symbolic speech
Texas v. Johnson
ruled that flag burning for the purpose of political protest was symbolic speech (under the 1st amendment) & considered constitutional
New York TImes v. US (Pentagon Papers Case)
ruled that newspapers had the right to publish the secret Pentagon study of the Vietnam War under the 1st amendment’s free press clause
Wolf v. Colorado
allowed illegally obtained evidence to be used in state courts
Mapp v. Ohio
overturned wolf v. colorado
established the exclusionary rule: if the police obtained evidence without a valid search warrant it would not be admissible in court
Griswold v. Connecticut
ruled that the law prohibiting obtaining information about birth control was illegal under the 4th amendment
ruled that there was an inferred privacy right given to people in the 4th amendment
Roe v. Wade
made abortion legal.
during the 1st trimester, women have the right to abortion on demand. during the 2nd trimester the state can place restrictions on abortions. during the 3rd trimester more restrictions could be placed on a woman’s decision to have an abortion
Planned Parenthood v. Casey
upheld the pennsylvania law that said that women seeking abortion had to wait 24 hours and get parental approval, but struck down spousal approval
New Jersey v. T.L.O
ruled that searches without warrants were justifiable if there was reasonable suspicion
the principal searched a student’s pocketbook without a search warrant and found illegal drugs
Vernonia School District v. Acton
ruled that random drug tests for all school athletes did not violate privacy rights. a future case extended it to any student who was involved in an extracurricular activity
Miranda v. Arizona
established the Miranda rights: right to remain silent, anything said could be used in court, right to consult a lawyer, and a lawyer will be provided if the accused can not afford one
Gideon v. Wainwright
granted right to an attorney to the accused
court ruled that Florida had to provide Gideon with an attorney because Gideon could not afford one, and it was not okay for him to defend himself.
Gregg v. Georgia
ruled that the death penalty did not represent cruel and unusual punishment. overturned Furman v. Georgia
Furman v. Georgia
ruled that the death penalty violated the 8th amendment of cruel & unusual punishment
Cruzan v. Missouri Department of Health
ruled that if an individual signed a living will to stop life support, the hospital would have to respect that.
ruled in this case that because Cruzan was in a coma, it is unclear whether she would have chosen to end her life, so the hospital had the authority to continue treatment
Dred Scott v. Sanford
declared that Scott was a slave even though he was taken to a free state made free as a result of the Missouri Compromise
ruled the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, causing a catalyst for the start of the Civil War
Plessy v. Ferguson
created the “separate but equal” doctrine. as long as there were equal facilities, blacks & whites could still be segregated
Brown v. Board of Education
overturned Plessy v. Ferguson & separate but equal doctrine. deemed that it violated the 14th amendment .
ordered an end to school segregation with all deliberate speech.
Heart of Atlanta Motel v. US
courts upheld the Civil Rights Act. Congress can mandate hotel owner to serve black customers under interstate commerce clause
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
upheld that universities could not admit less qualified applicants solely on their race to fill quotas. however, race can come into consideration among other things.
paved way for affirmative action stuff
US v. Virginia
ruled that Virginia Military Institute’s refusal to admit women was discriminatory & that they now had to accept women into the school.
broadened the 14th amendment equal protection clause
US v. Nixon
stated that there is no excuse (not even executive privilege) for absolute, unqualified presidential privilege. Nixon was forced to release watergate break-in tapes.
ruled that nixon’s claim of executive privilege violated the separation of powers doctrine
ruled that executive privilege claims only apply to national security issues, not a generalized need for privacy
Bush v. Gore
after Florida’s electoral votes were disputed, Al Gore challenged the results & demanded a recount.
the supreme court ruled that since the recount would be handled differently in every county, it violated the equal protection clause and that recounting the votes would be too vague
Buckley v. Valeo
held that hard money donation restrictions did not violate free speech because the intent was to protect the system from corruption. held that limits on soft money donations were unconstitutional & did violate the 1st amendment
constitution forbids congress from limiting individual political campaign expenditures, but congress can regulate contributions to candidates and parties. the decision opened doors for PACs to spend unlimited amounts of money for campaigning activities so long as they’re not directly coordinated with a particular party’s campaign
Baker v. Carr
ruled that every state had to draw its legislative districts that would guarantee equal representation. no gerrymandering
