Key Supreme Court Cases and Trials Flashcards
Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 1819
ruled Constitution protected contracts from state encroachments
Worcester v GA, 1831
upheld rights of Cherokee tribe
Dred Scott v Sandford, 1857
African Americans were not citizens and therefore couldn’t petition to court
1873 Slaughterhouse Cases and 1883 Civil Rights Cases
narrowed meaning and effectiveness of 14th amendment
Plessy v Ferguson, 1896
upheld segregation by approving “separate but equal”
Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Cases
SC decisions strengthened the position of big business
Sacco and Vanzetti, 1920s
Illustrated widespread fear of radicals and recent immigrants
The Scopes Trial, 1925
John T. Scopes was a biology teacher who was indicted for teaching evolution, illustrated cultural conflict between fundamentalism and modernism
Korematsu v. US, 1944
upheld constitutionality of putting Japanese Americans in internment camps as a wartime necessity
Warren Court, 1953-1969
promote social programs, established rights for those accused of crimes
Brown v. Board of Education, 1954
overrode Plessy, declared racially segregated public schools inherently unequal
Baker v Carr, 1962
established principle of “one man, one vote”
Griswold v Connecticut, 1965
proclaimed a “right to privacy” that soon provided a basis for protecting abortion rights
Miranda v Arizona, 1966
established Miranda rights which meant that no confession could be admissible unless a suspect had been made aware of his or her rights and the suspect had then waived those rights
Roe v Wade, 1973
upheld abortion rights for women
