SCOTUS Cases

Question 1

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Answer 1

” states did not have the power to tax the Federal Government”
- Necessary and Proper Clause: Article I, Section 8.

Question 2

United States v. Lopez (1995)

Answer 2

“the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 was unconstitutional
- Commerce Clause: Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3

Question 3

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Answer 3

• no school-sponsered prayer
• First Amendment - Freedom of Religion

Question 4

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Answer 4

-School attendance law was unconstitutional as applied to the Amish
- First Amendment - Freedom of Religion

Question 5

Tinker v. Des Moines ISD (1969)

Answer 5

• Public school officials cannot censor student expression unless they disrupt school activities or invade the rights of others.
• Armbands against the Vietnam War
• First Amendment - Freedom of Expression

Question 6

New York Times v. United States (1971)

Answer 6

• “Pentagon Papers”
• First Amendment right of a free press against prior restraint by the government
• Prior Restraint - pre-publication censorship

Question 7

Schenck v. UnitedStates (1919)

Answer 7

• Charles Schenck was charged under the Espionage Act for mailing printed circulars critical of the military draft. (Vietnam)
• First Amendment - Freedom of Speech
• Public Safety > Individual Rights

Question 8

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Answer 8

• The states must provide legal counsel (defense attorney) if the criminal defendant can’t afford a lawyer
• Sixth Amendment - a guarantee of counsel
• 14th Amendment - creates a right for criminal defendants who cannot pay for their own lawyers to have the state appoint attorneys on their behalf.

Question 9

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Answer 9

• U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas statute banning abortion, effectively legalizing the procedure across the United States.
• 14th Amendment: the U.S. Constitution, protects individual privacy, and includes the right to abortion prior to fetal viability.

Question 10

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

Answer 10

• A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State
• 14 Amendment: incorporation
• 2nd Amendment - Right to bear arms

Question 11

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Answer 11

• the Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional.
• 14th Amendment: Equal Protection Clause

Question 12

Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (2010)

Answer 12

-PACs
- prohibited corporations and unions from using their funds to use for election-related spending.
- Super PACs were created
- “Money is speech”
- 1st Amendment: Freedom of Speech

Question 13

Baker v. Carr (1961)

Answer 13

• established the right of federal courts to review redistricting issues
• 14th Amendment- Violated the Equal Protection Clause

Question 14

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Answer 14

• the justices decided that using racial reasons for redistricting is unconstitutional.
• 14th Amendment: Equal Protection Clause

Question 15

Marbury v. Madison (1803)