Landmark Supreme Court cases Flashcards
Dred Scott V. Sanford
In 1857 the supreme court decided that Dred-Scott was not a citizen of the state and was not a free man.
In this ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court stated that enslaved people were not citizens of the United States and, therefore, could not expect any protection from the federal government or the courts. The opinion also stated that Congress had no authority to ban slavery from a Federal territory.
Plessy V. Ferguson
(14th amendment: Separate but equal is constitutional, upheld racial segregation)
The ruling in this Supreme Court case upheld a Louisiana state law that allowed for “equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races.
The Separate Car Act of 1890 was a law passed by the Louisiana State Government that required all passenger railways to have separate train car accommodations for black and white Americans that were equal in facilities
Brown V. Board of Education
(14th amendment: Equal protection clause: Separate is not equal)
On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment and was therefore unconstitutional.
Regents of the University of California V. Bakke
(14th amendment-Equal Protection Clause)
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke is a 1978 Supreme Court case which held that a university’s admissions criteria which used race as a definite and exclusive basis for an admission decision violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Bush V. Gore
(14th amendment-Equal Protection Clause)
The Supreme Court’s decision in Bush v. Gore was among the most controversial in U.S. history, as it allowed the vote certification made by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris to stand, giving Bush Florida’s 25 electoral votes. Florida’s votes gave Bush, the Republican nominee, 271 electoral votes, one more than the 270 required to win the Electoral College.
Citizens United V. Federal Election Commission
Political spending is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, and the government may not keep corporations or unions from spending money to support or denounce individual candidates in elections.
The Federal Election Campaign Act (“the Act”) prohibits corporations and labor unions from using their general treasury funds to make electioneering communications or for speech that expressly advocates the election or defeat of a federal candidate
Engel V. Vitale
(First amendment: Freedom of Religion)
The majority, via Justice Black, held that school-sponsored prayer violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
West Virginia State BOE V. Barnett
(First Amendment-Freedom of Speech)
Students may not be required to salute the American flag or recite the Pledge of Allegiance at public schools if it is contrary to their religious beliefs.
Texas V. Johnson
(First Amendment-Symbolic Speech)
Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag outside of the convention center where the 1984 Republican National Convention was being held in Dallas, Texas. Johnson burned the flag to protest the policies of President Ronald Reagan. He was arrested and charged with violating a Texas statute that prevented the desecration of a venerated object, including the American flag, if such action were likely to incite anger in others. A Texas court tried and convicted Johnson. He appealed, arguing that his actions were “symbolic speech” protected by the First Amendment. The Supreme Court agreed to hear his case.
The majority of the Court, according to Justice William Brennan, agreed with Johnson and held that flag burning constitutes a form of “symbolic speech” that is protected by the First Amendment. The majority noted that freedom of speech protects actions that society may find very offensive, but society’s outrage alone is not justification for suppressing free speech.
Tinker V. Des Moines
(First Amendment-Symbolic Speech)
Tinker v. Des Moines is a historic Supreme Court ruling from 1969 that cemented students’ rights to free speech in public schools. Mary Beth Tinker was a 13-year-old junior high school student in December 1965 when she and a group of students decided to wear black armbands to school to protest the war in Vietnam.
Hazelwood V. Kuhlmeier
(First Amendment-Freedom of Speech/Press)
In Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988), the Supreme Court held that schools may restrict what is published in student newspapers if the papers have not been established as public forums. The Court also decided that the schools may limit the First Amendment rights of students if the student speech is inconsistent with the schools’ basic educational mission.
D.C. V. Heller
(Second Amendment- Right to Bear Arms)
In the 2008 landmark case District of Columbia v. Heller, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that the Second Amendment includes the right of individuals to bear arms for self-defense.
Mapp V.Ohio
(Illegal search and seizure 4th Amendment)
The case originated in Cleveland, Ohio, when police officers forced their way into Dollree Mapp’s house without a proper search warrant. Police believed that Mapp was harboring a suspected bomber, and demanded entry. No suspect was found, but police discovered a trunk of obscene pictures in Mapp’s basement. Mapp was arrested for possessing the pictures, and was convicted in an Ohio court. Mapp argued that her Fourth Amendment rights had been violated by the search, and eventually took her appeal to United States Supreme Court. At the time of the case unlawfully seized evidence was banned from federal courts but not state courts
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-3 vote in favor of Mapp. The high court said evidence seized unlawfully, without a search warrant, could not be used in criminal prosecutions in state courts.
New Jersey V. T.L.O
(School Privacy and Searches)
The Court held that the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures is not limited solely to the actions of law enforcement personnel. It also applies to the conduct of public school officials. Public school teachers act as agents of the state, and not merely agents of the students’ parents. Thus, the Fourth Amendment applies to their actions.
Miranda V. Arizona
(Fifth Amendment-self incrimination: Sixth amendment: Right to counsel)
Miranda required, famously, that those arrested be informed of their rights to remain silent and obtain an attorney under the Fifth Amendment.
“You have the right to remain silent.” Few legal phrases are as well known as this one. Yet it did not exist until June 13, 1966, when the U.S. Supreme Court first announced it as a principle of American law in the landmark case of Miranda v. Arizona .
Gideon V. Wainwright
In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Gideon, guaranteeing the right to legal counsel for criminal defendants in federal and state courts. Following the decision, Gideon was given another trial with an appointed lawyer and was acquitted of the charges.
Roe V. Wade
In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decided that the right to privacy implied in the 14th Amendment protected abortion as a fundamental right. However, the government retained the power to regulate or restrict abortion access depending on the stage of pregnancy
Korematsu V. United States
On May 30, 1942, about six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the FBI arrested Korematsu for failure to report to a relocation center. After his arrest, while waiting in jail, he decided to allow the American Civil Liberties Union to represent him and make his case a test case to challenge the constitutionality of the government’s order. Korematsu was tried in federal court in San Francisco, convicted of violating military orders issued under Executive Order 9066, given five years on probation, and sent to an Assembly Center in San Bruno, CA.
Korematsu’s attorneys appealed the trial court’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals, which agreed with the trial court that he had violated military orders. Korematsu asked the Supreme Court of the United States to hear his case. On December 18, 1944, a divided Supreme Court ruled, in a 6-3 decision, that the detention was a “military necessity” not based on race. About 10 weeks after the U.S. entered World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942 signed Executive Order 9066. The order authorized the Secretary of War and the armed forces to remove people of Japanese ancestry from what they designated as military areas and surrounding communities in the United States. These areas were legally off limits to Japanese aliens and Japanese-American citizens.
Marbury V. Madison
Madison, legal case in which, on February 24, 1803, the U.S. Supreme Court first declared an act of Congress unconstitutional, thus establishing the doctrine of judicial review. The court’s opinion, written by Chief Justice John Marshall, is considered one of the foundations of U.S. constitutional law.
Gibbons V. Ogden
The result of Gibbons v. Ogden was that a federal license allowed Thomas Gibbons to operate his steamboat in navigable waters, overriding the state license held by Aaron Ogden. This landmark Supreme Court case, decided in 1824, established the supremacy of federal law in matters of interstate commerce, specifically pertaining to steamboat transportation. The ruling contributed to the development of a uniform national system of regulating commerce and helped pave the way for future decisions on the scope of federal power.After the State of New York denied Gibbons access to the New York Bay in between New York and New Jersey, he sued Ogden. The case went to the Supreme Court, and Chief Justice Marshall’s opinion carried out the clear original intent of the Constitution to have Congress, not the states, regulate interstate commerce.
McCullough V. Maryland
The court decided that the Federal Government had the right and power to set up a Federal bank and that states did not have the power to tax the Federal Government. Marshall ruled in favor of the Federal Government and concluded, “the power to tax involves the power to destroy.
The Supreme Court ruled Congress can use constitutional power to build a national bank.
Nixon V. United States
Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court unanimously ordered President Richard Nixon to deliver tape recordings and other subpoenaed materials related to the Watergate scandal to a federal district court.
Executive Branch
-The president and the cabinet
-Enforces laws that Congress passes
-The President is the commander in chief of the military (but only congress has the ability to declare war)
-The President’s cabinet advises the President
Legislative Branch
-House of Representatives and Senate
-Congress makes laws
1.Senate
-100 Senators (2 per state, all states have equal powers.
-Elected to 6 year terms
-FL Senators: Rick Scott and Mark Rubio
- House of Representatives
-435 members
-Elected to 2-year terms
-Hold them accountable to the people
