Court Cases Test 1

Question 1

Barron v. Baltimore (1833)

Answer 1

does the fifth amendment place restrictions on the state gov’t. it was ruled that no it does not. it only places limitations on the national gov’t. It was argued that the supreme court had no jurisdiction since the the fifth amendment only applies to the federal gov’t.

Question 2

Palko v. Connecticut(1937-38)

Answer 2

Palko was tried once and found guilty of second degree murder. He was retried and found guilty of first degree murder. It was believed that the 14th amendment gave protection for freedom of thought and speech, however double jeopardy was not considered a fundamental right.

Question 3

Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)

Answer 3

he question was whether it was constitutionally sound to give financial aid to “church related educational institutions”. The court ruled that it was a violation of the first amendment and developed the Lemon Test to which school could receive aid. Schools must have a secular purpose, could not advance nor inhibit religion, and could not entangle gov’t and religious institutions in each others affairs.

Question 4

WV Board of Education v. Barnette(1943)

Answer 4

The question proposed was whether mandatory flag-saluting in schools was a violation of the First Amendment. This idea was considered a forced unification of ideas and declared unconstitutional.

Question 5

Schenck v. U.S.(1919)

Answer 5

Schenck tried to convince people to dodge the draft during WWI. The question for the court was whether or not his speech was protected by the First Amendment. Apparently the court decided that his speech was not protected in this case. It was said that this constituted a clear and present danger to security. Which I believe is complete and utter B.S.

Question 6

Near v. Minnesota(1930)

Answer 6

Near published a list of politicians he believed to be “in bed” with mobsters. A “gag law” was established to protect people from scandalous accusations. The court ruled that this law was a violation of the First Amendment.

Question 7

NY Times v. U.S. (1971)

Answer 7

this was known as the “Pentagon Papers” case. The NY Times published secret, stolen Defense Department documents. The Nixon Administration tried to prevent this publication. The court overruled this saying it was protected by the first amendment.

Question 8

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Answer 8

An illegal police search provided evidence against Mapp for possessing obscene materials. The court ruled that such evidence was a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Question 9

Benton v. Maryland(1968)

Answer 9

the supreme court overruled its decision in Palko v. Connecticut (1938). It made the 14th amendment included double jeopardy. It also said that states cannot refuse rights to criminal defendants.

Question 10

Miranda v. Arizona(1966)-

Answer 10

it was ruled that by not notifying a criminal of their rights to counsel and protection from self incrimination was a violation of the Fifth Amendment. It gave rise to Miranda Rights.

Question 11

Gideon v. Wainwright(1963)

Answer 11

Gideon was denied representation in his B and E case which the courts declared a violation of his Sixth Amendment rights, the right to counsel.

Question 12

Furman v. Georgia(1972)

Answer 12

the question here was whether capital punishment was considered “cruel and unusual” punishment and whether it violated the Eighth Amendment. The court ruled that it was in violation and forced the gov’t to rethink its policy on capital punishment.

Question 13

Gregg v. Georgia(1976)

Answer 13

court ruled that capital punishment was ok.

Question 14

Atkins v. Virginia(2002)

Answer 14

declared it unconstitutional to execute mentally retarded people.

Question 15

Roper v. Simmons (2005)

Answer 15

declared it unconstitutional to execute minors.

Question 16

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

Answer 16

Griswold was the director of Planned Parenthood and was prosecuted for advising couples in the use of contraceptives. The court ruled that although privacy is not specifically stated in the constitution, the First, Third, Fourth, and Ninth amendments together create a “zone” of privacy.

Question 17

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Answer 17

Abortion. Declared abortion constitutionally legal.

Question 18

Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)

Answer 18

declared states could have laws against sodomy.

Question 19

Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

Answer 19

overruled Bowers v. Hardwick, making it unconstitutional to make laws against same sex sex.

Question 20

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Answer 20

Plessy was arrested for not sitting in the “blacks” section of a bus despite being “7/8” caucasian. Gave rise to the idea of separate but equal.

Question 21

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Answer 21

stated that segregating schools based on school was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Said that minority children were given a feeling of inferiority. Says separate but equal is not equal in the means of public education.

Question 22

UCA Regents v. Bakke (1978)

Answer 22

Affirmative action upheld. Quotas and separate admission policies rejected.

Question 23

Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)

Answer 23

rejection of “mechanical” point based entry system favoring minorities. Bakke reaffirmed.

Question 24

Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)

Answer 24

U of M could have race conscious admissions policy so long as it could pass strict scrutiny was highly individualized and not mechanical.

Question 25

U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark(1897)

Answer 25

said the US could not deny citizenship to anyone born in the US.

Question 26

U.S. v. Virginia (1995)

Answer 26

declared it unconstitutional for the VMI to deny women entry to the formerly all male school.