Court Cases Flashcards
Grutter v. Bollinger
Reinforced the Bakke case, specifically in graduate and law school. Race can be one criteria in selection of students, but not the only criteria.
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Ruled that African-Americans were not citizens and therefore could not petition the Supreme Court.
Korematsu v. United States
Upheld the constitutionality of internment camps during World War II.
Plessy v. Ferguson
Upheld Jim Crow segregation by approving “separate but equal” public faculties for African-Americans.
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Ruled that race could only be used as one factor among others in the competition of college admissions/jobs and that a quota system was unconstitutional.
Marbury v. Madison
Established judicial review, which gave the courts the power to rule laws unconstitutional.
Gibbons v. Ogden
Established congressional authority in the area of interstate commerce.
United States v. Lopez
Ruled that the Gun Free Zone Act, which prohibited anyone fro possessing a gun within 1000 feet of a school, was unconstitutional because it violated the Tenth Amendment’s reserve power clause. The court ruled that the act had nothing to do with interstate commerce and the authority to pass such legislation rested with the states.
Engle v. Vitale
Ruled that schools could not include a daily prayer as part of a formal daily activity because it violated the First Amendment’s separation of church and state.
Lemon v. Kurtzman
Ruled that states could not provide aid to parochial schools. Also established the three-prong test for determining whether the establishment clause has been violated:
- Purpose of the legislation must be secular, not religious.
- Primary effect of the legislation must neither advance nor inhibit religion.
- The legislation must avoid an excessive entanglement of government with religion.
Reynolds v. United States
Ruled that outlawing polygamy was not a violation of the free exercise clause.
Gitlow v New York
Created the “dangerous tendency” test and ruled that the First Amendment applied to the states by virtue of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This was the first time selective incorporation was used by the courts.
Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire
Ruled that words that can inflict injury or cause a breach of the peace can be regulated.
Schenck v. United States
Created the “clear and present danger” test, which allows the arrest and conviction of anybody who is creating a clear and present danger through actions or speech.
Tinker v. Des Moines
Ruled that symbolic speech, such as wearing a black armband, was protected under the First Amendment. Also protected the rights of students in school unless there was a “material and substantial” disruption of the school environment.
Texas v. Johnson
Ruled that burning the flag for the purpose of political protest was symbolic speech and constitutional.
New York Times v. United States
Ruled that newspapers had the right to publish leaked government papers and that the government misused its authority of “prior restraint” when it asked the courts to censor the publications.
District of Columbia v. Heller
Overturned a ban on guns in the District of Columbia and ruled that the Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right to bear arms was protected by federal laws.
McDonald v. Chicago
Extended the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms to state laws. Also ruled that federal and state governments could still pass gun control legislation such as outlawing certain types of weapons and ammunition.
Wolf v. Colorado
Made the Fourth Amendment applicable to the states through the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and allowed illegally obtained evidence to be used in state courts.
Mapp v. Ohio
Overturned Wolf v. Colorado and established the Exclusionary Rule, which stated that illegally obtained evidence could not be used in court.
Griswold v. Connecticut
Ruled that a law prohibiting obtaining information about birth control was illegal under the Fourth Amendment. Also stated that there was an inferred privacy right given to people in the Fourth Amendment.
Roe v. Wade
Ruled that women had the constitutional right under the Fourth Amendment to an abortion.
Planned Parenthood v. Casey
Upheld Roe v. Wade while also upholding a law requiring women seeking abortions had to wait 24 hours and requiring minors to get parental consent. It also ruled struck down a law requiring married women to inform their spouse that they were getting an abortion.
Miranda v. Arizona
Ruled that police had to inform an individual at the time of their arrest the rights from the Fifth Amendment.
Gideon v. Wainwright
Guaranteed that those accused of a crime would have the right to an attorney.
Gregg v. Georgia
Ruled that the death penalty was not a cruel and unusual punishment.
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
Ruled that “separate but equal was inherently unequal” and ordered an end to school segregation.
United States v. Virginia
Ruled that a school’s male only admissions policy was discriminatory towards women and that women had to be accepted. The decision broadened the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause.
