Required documents and last minute study Flashcards
Engel v. Vitale
Prayer in public schools prohibited by First Amendment (which was made applicable to the states under the 14th A.)
religious practices in school violate “establishment
clause”
(1962)
McCulloch v. Maryland
the Supreme Court upheld the power of the national government and denied the right of a state to tax the federal bank using the Constitution’s supremacy clause. The Court’s broad interpretation of the necessary and proper clause paved the way for later rulings upholding expansive federal powers.
supremacy of federal law
(1819)
United States v. Lopez
Commerce clause of Constitution does not give Congress the power to regulate guns near state-operated schools.
Limited the commerce clause
(1995)
Wisconsin v. Yoder
Amish people refused to send their children to school past the 8th grade when the state required public schooling for all children until age16. Result: This law is in conflict with the Free Exercise clause. The statute is in direct conflict with Amish beliefs. The Amish may teach themselves.
Respects religious practices through “free exercise” clause
(1972)
Tinker v. Des Moines
Students in an Iowa school were suspended for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam war. Ruled that this suspension was unconstitutional, and that public school students do not “shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse door.”
freedom of speech extends to student protests
(1969)
New York Times v. United States (1971)
Supreme Court case protecting the freedom of the press by allowing the New York Times to publish the “Pentagon Papers” despite the Justice Department’s order to restrict it
Schenck v. US
Unanimously upheld the Espionage Act of 1917 which declared that people who interfered with the war effort were subject to imprisonment; declared that the 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech was not absolute; free speech could be limited if its exercise presented a “clear and present danger.”
(1919)
Gideon v. Wainwright
Extends to the defendant the right of counsel in all state and federal criminal trials regardless of their ability to pay.
(1963)
McDonald v. Chicago (2010)
The Second Amendment that allows the people to keep and bear arms applies to state governments as well as the federal one
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
unanimously held that the racial segregation of children in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Brown claimed that Topeka’s racial segregation violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause because the city’s black and white schools were not equal to each other and never could be. Overruled Plessy v. Ferguson’s “separate but equal” doctrine and would eventually led to the desegregation of schools across the South.
Determined that school segregation
violates equal protection clause
(1954)
Citizens United v. FEC
corporations have a 1st Amendment right to expressly support political candidates for Congress and the White House.
Political spending by corporations is permitted
under free speech.
(2010)
Baker v. Carr
Established the principle of “one person, one vote” and made such patterns of representation illegal. The Court asserted that the federal courts had the right to tell states to reapportion their districts for more equal representation.
Determined that the “Tennessee Act” was unconstitutional and that districts have to be appointed in a substantially equal manner.
(1962)
Marbury v. Madison
Established judicial review; “midnight judges;” John Marshall; power of the Supreme Court.
(1803)
Shaw v. Reno
Legislative redistricting must be conscious of race and ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Made racial-gerrymandering unconstitutional.
(1993)
Federalist No. 10
James Madison states that one of the strongest arguments in favor of the Constitution is the fact that it establishes a government capable of controlling the violence and damage caused by factions.
Madison argued for a strong central government that controls the “mischiefs of faction.”
