Court Cases Flashcards
Gitlow v. New York
1925 Freedoms of the press and speech are fundamental personal rights and liberties protected by the due process clause in the Fourteenth Amendment
McCulloh v. Maryland
1819 Established the supremacy of the national government over state government. Congress had certain implied powers in addition to the powers enumerated in the Constitution.
Marbury v. Madison
1803 Asserted Supreme Court’s right to determine the meaning of the U.S. Constitution/Power of judicial review over Congress
Plessy v. Ferguson
1896 Provided a constitutional justification for segregation by ruling that a Louisiana law requiring “equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races” was unconstitutional
Gibbons v. Ogden
1824 Gibbons broadly interpreted (1-8) Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce as encompassing virtually every form of commercial activity
Barron v. Baltimore
1833 Bill of Rights restrained only the national government, not the states and cities
Engel v. Vitale
1962 determined state officials violated the First Amendment when they wrote a prayer to be recited by New York’s schoolchildren
Lemon v. Kurtzman
1971 Established that aid to church-related schools must 1. Have a secular legislative purpose 2. Have a primary effect that does not advance or inhibit religion 3. Not foster government entanglement with religion
Schenck v. United States
1919 Upheld the conviction of a socialist who had urged resistance to draft during WWI. Gov can limit speech that provokes a “clear and present danger” of substantive evils
Near v. Minnesota
1931 Supreme Court decision holding that the First Amendment protects newspapers from prior restraint
New York Times v. Sullivan
1964 To win damage suits for libel, public figures must prove the statements made were “actual malice” and reckless disregard for the truth
Brown v. Board of Education
1954 School segregation was inherently unconstitutional because it violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection
Tinker v. Des Moines
1968 Constitutional for a school to ban anti-war armbands in order to maintain discipline
Texas v. Johnson
1989 Supreme Court struck down a law banning the burning of the American flag on the grounds that such action was symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
2010 Ruled that individuals, corporations, and unions could donate unlimited amounts of money to groups that make independent political expenditures
Miranda v. Arizona
1966 Miranda Rights, “You have the right to remain silent…”
Powell v. Alabama
Right to attorney in capital cases
Gideon v. Waine Wright
Right to attorney in felony cases
Arger Singer v. Hamlin
1972 Right to attorney in cases where the punishment is imprisonment (includes misdemeanors)
Firman v. Georgia
1972 Outlaws death penalty due to vague sentencing
Gregg v. Georgia
1976 After Furman v. Georgia, death penalty gets back to the Supreme Court after 35 states change laws, Supreme Court backs it
McKlesky v. Kemp
Death Penalty did not violate Equal Protection in the 14th Amendment due to more blacks being sentenced than whites
Griswold v. Connecticut
1965 Outlawed birth control, Supreme Court overruled woman’s sentence based on right to privacy
Roe v. Wade
No state control over abortion during 1st trimester, regulations during 2nd, can ban during 3rd
