Court Cases

Question 1

Marbury v. madison

Answer 1

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

Question 2

McCulloch v. Maryland

Answer 2

defined “necessary and proper” clause and established the primacy of federal government power over state government

Question 3

Gibbons v. Ogden

Answer 3

decided that only the national government can regulate interstate commerce, individual states cannot

Question 4

US v. Lopez

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Engle v. Vitale

Answer 5

struck down mandatory prayer in school because it was in violation of the First Amendment’s separation of church & state

Question 6

Lemon v. Kurtzman

Answer 6

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

1. purpose of the legislation must be secular, not religious
2. primary effect of legislation must neither advance nor inhibit religion
3. legislation must avoid an excessive entanglement of government with religion

Question 7

Reynolds v. US

Answer 7

ruled that a law banning polygamy was constitutional & that reynolds could not practice polygamy

Question 8

Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Gitlow v. New York

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Schenck v. US

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Tinker v. Des Moines

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Texas v. Johnson

Answer 13

ruled that flag burning for the purpose of political protest was symbolic speech (under the 1st amendment) & considered constitutional

Question 14

New York TImes v. US (Pentagon Papers Case)

Answer 14

ruled that newspapers had the right to publish the secret Pentagon study of the Vietnam War under the 1st amendment’s free press clause

Question 15

Wolf v. Colorado

Answer 15

allowed illegally obtained evidence to be used in state courts

Question 16

Mapp v. Ohio

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Griswold v. Connecticut

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Roe v. Wade

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Planned Parenthood v. Casey

Answer 19

upheld the pennsylvania law that said that women seeking abortion had to wait 24 hours and get parental approval, but struck down spousal approval

Question 20

New Jersey v. T.L.O

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Vernonia School District v. Acton

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Miranda v. Arizona

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Gideon v. Wainwright

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

Gregg v. Georgia

Answer 24

ruled that the death penalty did not represent cruel and unusual punishment. overturned Furman v. Georgia

Question 25

Furman v. Georgia

Answer 25

ruled that the death penalty violated the 8th amendment of cruel & unusual punishment

Question 26

Cruzan v. Missouri Department of Health

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Dred Scott v. Sanford

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Plessy v. Ferguson

Answer 28

created the “separate but equal” doctrine. as long as there were equal facilities, blacks & whites could still be segregated

Question 29

Brown v. Board of Education

Answer 29

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.

Question 30

Heart of Atlanta Motel v. US

Answer 30

courts upheld the Civil Rights Act. Congress can mandate hotel owner to serve black customers under interstate commerce clause

Question 31

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

Answer 31

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

Question 32

US v. Virginia

Answer 32

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

Question 33

US v. Nixon

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Bush v. Gore

Answer 34

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

Question 35

Buckley v. Valeo

Answer 35

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

Question 36

Baker v. Carr

Answer 36

ruled that every state had to draw its legislative districts that would guarantee equal representation. no gerrymandering