Court Cases

Question 1

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Answer 1

Established supremacy of the U.S. Constitutional and federal laws over state laws.

Question 2

The United States v. Lopez (1995)

Answer 2

Congress may not use the commerce clause to make possession of a gun in a school zone a federal crime.

Question 3

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Answer 3

School sponsorship of religious activities violates the establishment clause.

Question 4

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Answer 4

Compelling Amish students to attend school past the eighth grade violates the free exercise clause.

Question 5

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)

Answer 5

Public school students have the right to wear black armbands in school to protest the Vietnam War.

Question 6

New York Times Co. v. The United States (1971)

Answer 6

Bolstered the freedom of the press, establishing a “heavy presumption against prior restraint” even in cases involving national security.

Question 7

Schenck v. The United States (1919)

Answer 7

Speech creating a “clear and present danger” is not protected by the First Amendment.

Question 8

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Answer 8

Guaranteed the right to an attorney for the poor or indigent in a state felony case.

Question 9

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

Answer 9

The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense is applicable to the states.

Question 10

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Answer 10

Race-based school segregation violates the equal protection clause.

Question 11

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commision (2010)

Answer 11

Political spending by corporations, associations, and labor unions are a form of protected speech under the First Amendment.

Question 12

Baker v. Carr (1961)

Answer 12

Opened the door to equal protection challenges to redistricting and the development of the “one person, one vote” doctrine by ruling that challenges to redistricting did not raise “political questions” that would keep federal courts from reviewing such challenges.

Question 13

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Answer 13

Majority-minority districts, created under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, may be constitutionally challenged by voters if a race is the only factor used in creating the district.

Question 14

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Answer 14

Established the principle of judicial review empowering the Supreme Court to nullify an act of the legislative or executive branch that violates the Constitution.

Question 15

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Answer 15

A woman’s legal right to abortion.