Court Cases Flashcards
Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
- City dumped sand near Barron’s wharf - rendering it useless.
- Sued using the Fifth Amendment on the grounds that he had been deprived of property without compensation.
- BUT FAILED - fifth amendment applies to national government, not as applicable to states
District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)
- SCOTUS struck down DC’s ban on handguns
- 2nd Amendment had been incorporated to apply to states as well as national government
Roe v. Wade (1973)
- Court struck down state laws criminalizing abortion
- lead to many states trying to regulate abortion
Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
- Court reversed Bowers v. Hardwick
- ruled that state laws banning private sexual activity between consenting adults violated right to privacy.
US v. Windsor (2013)
- Struck down DOMA
- Restricting marriage to only heterosexuals violates Bill of Rights (mainly fifth amendment)
- Kennedy: “The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity.”
- Scalia (dissent): this case is about power in several respects. It is about the power of our people to govern themselves
Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)
-Struck down state laws prohibiting same-sex marriage
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
- Connecticut law prohibited use of birth control.
- Griswold worked for PP; arrested for providing contraception information to married couples.
- Supreme Court overturned the law because it violated “a right of privacy older than the Bill of Rights…”
- “Zone of Privacy” exists through a combination of 3rd, 4th and 5th Amendments (and 9th)
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
- Court upheld states’ rights to segregation
- Separate but equal doctrine
Brown. v Board of Education (1954)
- State declared separate public schools for whites and blacks to be unconstitutional
- “Separate but equal doctrine has no place in public education” - SCOTUS
- Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson
Arizona v. United States (2012)
- Arizona law increased state powers to police illegal immigrants
- SCOTUS overturns provisions
- Supremacy clause says states can’t make laws about immigration
- States can’t make laws that undermine federal law
U.S. v. Lopez (1995)
- Federal law banning handguns near schools
- SCOTUS overturns
- Carrying handguns isn’t a commercial activity
U.S. v. Nixon (1974)
- Nixon invoked executive privilege to withhold secret White House tapes from Watergate investigators
- SCOTUS said executive privilege didn’t apply
- BUT, SCOTUS recognized executive privilege as a valid power.
Bush v. Gore (2000)
- Resolved dispute surrounding 2000 election.
- Gave Bush the electoral votes he needed to win the Presidential Election
Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
- Case about campaign spending by organizations.
- Can organizations and corporations spend unlimited money on elections in support of (but independent from) specific candidates?
- SCOTUS: Yes. The 1st Amendment protects right of organizations to make independent political expenditures.
- SCOTUS upheld disclosure requirements. Expenditures must be reported to FEC.
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
- William Marbury had been granted a judicial commission, but the commission had not been delivered in time.
- Marbury sued, and the Court ruled that the portion of the Judiciary Act of 1789 that gave the Court power to compel Madison to deliver the commission was invalid.
- The Court thus asserted that it had the power to rule a law unconstitutional.
