Required Supreme Court Cases Flashcards
Facts: Marbury v. Madison
Established Judicial Review. Adams lost the election, but before that he nominated a bunch of federalist justices. Some didn’t recieve their commission including Marshall who sued.
Decision: Marbury v. Madison
Does Marbury have the legal right to his commission? Yes
If yes, is the court-ordered writ of mandamus the proper legal means to get the commission? Yes
If yes, does the Court have the authority to grant the writ of mandamus? No
Arguments: Marbury v. Madison
Does Marbury have the legal right to his commission?
is the court-ordered writ of mandamus the proper legal means to get the commission?
does the Court have the authority to grant the writ of mandamus?
Facts: McCulloch v. Maryland
Congress established a National Bank, however McCulloch the cashier of the Baltimore branch of the bank refused to pay the tax.
Arguments: McCulloch v. Maryland
Does the Constitution give Congress power to create a bank? And could individual states ban or tax the bank?
Decision: McCulloch 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. (Supremacy Clause)
Facts: Schenck v. US
Schenck was charged with conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act of 1917 by attempting to cause insubordination in the military and to obstruct recruitment. Schenck was convicted of violating this law and appealed on the grounds that the statute violated the First Amendment.
Arguments: Schenck v. US
the Act violated the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
Decision: Schenck v. US
If speech is intended to result in a crime, and there is a clear and present danger that it actually will result in a crime, the First Amendment does not protect the speaker from government action.
Facts: Brown v. Board of Ed
African American students had been denied admittance to certain public schools based on laws allowing public education to be segregated by race.
Arguments: Brown v. Board of Ed
argued that such segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Decision: Brown v. Board of Ed
separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. It signaled the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States, overruling the “separate but equal” principle set forth in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case.
Facts: Baker v. Carr
Charles W. Baker and other Tennessee citizens alleged that a 1901 law designed to apportion the seats for the state’s General Assembly was virtually ignored. Baker’s suit detailed how Tennessee’s reapportionment efforts ignored significant economic growth and population shifts within the state.
Arguments: Baker v. Carr
The votes of rural citizens were overrepresented compared to those of urban citizens. Baker’s argument was that this discrepancy was causing him to fail to receive the “equal protection of the laws” required by the Fourteenth Amendment.
Decision: Baker v. Carr
federal courts could hear cases alleging that a state’s drawing of electoral boundaries, i.e. redistricting, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.
Facts: Engel v. Vitale
A New York State law required public schools to open each day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a nondenominational prayer in which the students recognized their dependence upon God.
Arguments: Engel v. Vitale
A parent sued on behalf of his child, arguing that the law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as made applicable to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Decision: Engel v. Vitale
held that school-sponsored prayer violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Facts: Gideon v. Wainwright
Gideon appeared in court without an attorney. In open court, he asked the judge to appoint counsel for him because he could not afford an attorney. The trial judge denied Gideon’s request because Florida law only permitted appointment of counsel for poor defendants charged with capital offenses.
Arguments: Gideon v. Wainwright
the Sixth Amendment requires indigent criminal defendants to be provided an attorney free of charge.
Decision: Gideon v. Wainwright
the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Gideon, guaranteeing the right to legal counsel for criminal defendants in federal and state courts.
Facts: Tinker v. Des Moines
Students decided to wear black armbands at school to protest the Vietnam war. They were punished because of this and one of the parents sued.
Arguments: Tinker v. Des Moines
public school officials cannot censor student expression unless they can reasonably forecast that the speech will substantially disrupt school activities or invade the rights of others.
Decision: Tinker v. Des Moines
7-2 decision in favor of the students.
Facts: NY Times Co. v. US
New York Times and Washington Post printed illegally leaked classified documents about American involvement in the Vietnam War.
Arguments: NY Times Co. v. US
the publication was not to put the U.S. in danger but to educate the American people about the Vietnam War. By preventing the New York Times from publishing the material, the reporters’ 1st Amendment rights were being violated.
Decision: NY Times Co. v. US
The Court ruled 6-3 in New York Times v. United States that the prior restraint was unconstitutional.
Facts: Wisconsin v. Yoder
The case involved three Amish fathers—Jonas Yoder, Wallace Miller, and Adin Yutzy—who, in accordance with their religion, refused to enroll their children, aged 14 and 15, in public or private schools after they had completed the eighth grade.
Arguments: Wisconsin v. Yoder
individual’s interests in the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment outweighed the State’s interests in compelling school attendance beyond the eighth grade.
Decision: Wisconsin v. Yoder
Wisconsin’s compulsory school attendance law was unconstitutional as applied to the Amish
Facts: Shaw v. Reno
North Carolina drew a very questionable looking district that had clearly been drawn under the basis of racial gerrymandering.
Arguments: Shaw v. Reno
state had created an unconstitutional racial gerrymandering violating the Fourteenth Amendment.
Decision: Shaw v. Reno
using racial reasons for redistricting is unconstitutional.
Facts: US. v. Lopez
Congress passed in act banning guns in school districts under the commerce clause. Many people debated whether or not the commerce clause could be used as a reason.
Arguments: US. v. Lopez
the Gun Free School Zones Act was an unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s power.
Decision: US. v. Lopez
Congress had exceeded its constitutional authority under the Commerce Clause when it passed a law prohibiting gun possession in local school zones.
Facts: McDonald v. Chicago
McDonald wanted to purchase a hand gun for fear of robberies, however he wasn’t allowed to. McDonald sued.
Arguments: McDonald v. Chicago
the right to bear arms is a fundamental right that states should not be able to infringe.
Decision: McDonald v. Chicago
the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,” applies to state and local governments as well as to the federal government.
Decision: Citizens United v. FEC
The Court held that the First Amendment “prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech.”
