COURT CASES, DOCUMENTS, AND IDEOLOGY Flashcards
What is a writ?
A formal court order issued by a judge, instructing a government official to perform a specific action or explaining why someone is being held in custody, depending on the type of writ involved; the most common writ discussed in AP Gov is the “writ of certiorari,” which is a request for the Supreme Court to review a lower court’s decision.
What was Kelo v. City of New London?
A 2005 Supreme Court case where the justices ruled that a city could use eminent domain to seize private property and transfer it to a private developer for economic development, which was considered a “public use” under the Fifth Amendment, even if the property was not blighted; with a 5-4 majority opinion allowing the city to take land from homeowners like Kelo to further economic development plans in New London, Connecticut.
What was Gideon v. Wainwright?
A 1963 Supreme Court case that established the right of criminal defendants in state courts to have an attorney provided to them if they cannot afford one, effectively applying the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of counsel to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
What is eminent domain?
Allows the gov to take private property for public use with compensation.
What was McCulloh v. Maryland?
A 1819 Supreme Court case that held that Congress has implied powers derived from those listed in Article I, Section 8. The “Necessary and Proper” Clause gave Congress the power to establish a national bank.
What was Brown v. Board of Education?
A 1954 Supreme Court case that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. This decision overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, which upheld the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine, and marked a turning point in the civil rights movement, emphasizing that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.
What was Gibbons v. Ogden?
A 1824 Supreme Court case that established the federal government’s broad power to regulate interstate commerce, essentially ruling that states cannot interfere with Congress’s authority to regulate trade between states, solidifying the concept of federal supremacy in this area; this decision is often cited as a key interpretation of the Commerce Clause in the Constitution.
Plessy v. Ferguson
A 1896 Supreme Court case where the justices ruled that racial segregation laws, including “separate but equal” facilities for Black and white people, did not violate the Constitution, effectively upholding the legality of Jim Crow laws in the South
What was Roe v. Wade?
A 1973 Supreme Court 7-2 decision that ruled that the “right to privacy” of the 14th Amendment protects a woman’s right to have an abortion.
What was Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization?
A 2022 Court case that states the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; and, regulating abortion is “returned to the people and their elected representatives.”
What was California v. Bakke?
A 1978 Supreme Court ruling that a university’s use of racial “quotas” in its admissions process was unconstitutional, but a school’s use of “affirmative action” to accept more minority applicants was constitutional in some circumstances.
What was Betts v. Brady?
A 1942 Supreme Court case where it was decided that defendants who cannot pay a lawyer do not have the right to a state-appointed attorney.
What was the Dred Scott Case?
A 1857 Supreme Court case ruled that enslaved people were not considered citizens of the United States and therefore could not sue in federal court, denying them any constitutional protections; it also declared that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories, essentially invalidating the Missouri Compromise and significantly escalating tensions leading up to the Civil War.
How did the NAACP use the courts?
The NAACP employs a strategy that combines litigation, lobbying, and public education to influence legislation and court rulings related to civil rights. Supported perfect cases to push to the Supreme Court.
What was the feminist movement of the 1960s?
Aimed to achieve greater equality for women in areas like employment, reproductive rights, and social standing. Workplace harassment, Equal Pay Act, sex discrimination, and equal opportunity for education.
What was Madison’s idea in Federalist #10?
A federal government can protect liberty because it guards against control by a narrow interest. “Liberty is to faction, what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires.”
What was Madison’s Idea in Federalist #51?
Addresses how checks and balances can be created in government and also advocates a separation of powers within the national government. The various powers of government must be exercised separately and distinctly in order to “guard the society against the oppression of its rulers”
What was Hamilton’s Idea in Federalist #70
He argues that unity in the executive branch is a main ingredient for both energy and safety. Energy arises from the proceedings of a single person, characterized by, “decision, activity, secrecy, and dispatch,” while safety arises from the unitary executive’s unconcealed accountability to the people.
What was John Locke’s Ideology
He believed in the natural rights of man. He wrote that every man had the right to life, liberty, and property.
Who was influenced by John Locke?
Thomas Jefferson was influenced, and used Locke’s natural rights of man in the Declaration of Independance.
