Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Question 1

Court formed the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States

Answer 1

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Question 2

The Court determined that Congress did have the power to create the Bank

Answer 2

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Question 3

United States held that the power to regulate interstate commerce

Answer 3

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

Question 4

Supreme Court vacated the conviction of Samuel Worcester and held that the Georgia criminal statute that prohibited non-Native Americans from being present on Native American lands without a license from the state was unconstitutional.

Answer 4

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

Question 5

Supreme Court ruled that Americans of African descent, whether free or slave, were not American citizens and could not sue in federal court. The Court also ruled that Congress lacked power to ban slavery in the U.S. territories

Answer 5

Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)

Question 6

upheld the constitutionality of “separate, but equal facilities” based on race.

Answer 6

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Question 7

Supreme Court decision concerning enforcement of the Espionage Act of 1917 during World War I.

Answer 7

Schenck v. United States (1919)

Question 8

The Supreme Court case that invalidated as unconstitutional a provision of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) that authorized the President to approve “codes of fair competition” for the poultry industry and other industries.

Answer 8

Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935)

Question 9

individual rights may be limited during wartime

Answer 9

Korematsu v. United States (1943)

Question 10

overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.

Answer 10

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

Question 11

ruled it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools

Answer 11

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Question 12

criminal suspects have a right to counsel during police interrogations under the Sixth Amendment

Answer 12

Escobedo v. Illinois (1964)

Question 13

the president cannot use executive privilege as an excuse to withhold evidence that is ‘demonstrably relevant in a criminal trial

Answer 13

United States v. Nixon (1974)

Question 14

upheld affirmative action, allowing race to be one of several factors in college admission policy.

Answer 14

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)

Question 15

resolved the dispute surrounding the 2000 presidential election. Three days earlier, the Court had preliminarily halted a recount that was occurring.

Answer 15

Bush v. Gore (2000)

Question 16

holding that the U.S. Congress could use the power granted to it by the Constitution’s Commerce Clause to force private businesses to abide by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. No discrimination in public facilities.

Answer 16

Heart of Atlanta v. United States (1964)

Question 17

evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures,” may not be used in state law criminal prosecutions in state courts, as wel

Answer 17

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Question 18

Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution requires the states to provide defense attorneys to criminal defendants charged with serious offenses who cannot afford lawyers themselves.

Answer 18

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Question 19

creation of the miranda rights, defendant must be knowledgeable of these rights and understand them

Answer 19

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Question 20

freedom of press

Answer 20

NY Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)

Question 21

defined the constitutional rights of students in U.S. public schools.

Answer 21

Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969)