Supreme Court Flashcards
What happened in FEC v Citizens United
2010:
Citizens United released a documentary slating Hilary Clinton, candidate for Democrat Presidential Candidate.
However, when the BCRA tried to limit this, they took it to the Supreme Court.
Citizens United argued that these efforts violated the First Amendment. The Supreme Court voted that the First Amendment meant that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited
What happened at Burwell v Hobby Lobby Stores? INCLUDE VOTE
2014
Green family owned Hobby Lobby, and they felt that the ACA ruling that employment-based group health care plans must provide certain types of preventative care violated their religious convictions.
SC agreed with them.
5-4 ENTIRELY ALONG PARTY LINES
What happened in DC v Heller
2008:
Columbia made it illegal to carry an unlicensed hand gun, and you need a license to carry one home.
Heller was a D.C. special police officer who was authorized to carry a handgun while on duty. His application to be able to bring the handgun home was rejected. Heller sued the District of Columbia for violating the Second Amendment.
Supreme Court ruled that banning handguns violates 2nd Amendment.
What happened in Carpenter v US?
2018:
Police arrested 4 men for a robbery. One man gave over the numbers of all involved. From this, the police found evidence that was sufficient to charge one man, Carpenter for robbery.
The court ruled that checking his phone records violated 4th Amendment?
What happened in Glossip v Gross?
2015
An execution was messed up in Oklahoma, so the chemicals used were changed.
Inmates challenged this for violating the 8th Amendment.
The court said there was no evidence that the new method would cause severe pain.
What happened in Plessy v Ferguson?
1896
The Separate Car Act required separate cars for blacks and whites.
In a test to challenge the act, Plessy (who was black under law, but appeared white) sat in a whites only carriage.
For this, he was arrested.
The Supreme Court agreed that the law was Constitutional - this set up the Jim Crow laws.
What happened in Brown v Board
1953
African American students were denied entrance to white only public schools.
They argued the segregation violated the 14th Amendment. The court agreed that Separate but equal is unequal
What happened in Obergefell v Hodges?
INCLUDE VOTE
2015
Same sex couples complained the state ban on same sex marriage violated the 14th Amendment.
The Supreme Court agreed.
5-4 (on party lines, Kennedy swing!)
What happened in Whole Woman’s Health v Hellerstedt?
2016
H B 2 required physicians performing an abortion should be within 30 miles of a hospital, in Texas. This made it hard for people outside of a few cities (El Paso was one of the few with such provisions)
The court decided that this placed some as a disadvantage, so violated the 14th Amendment.
What happened in Bush v Gore?
2000
Settled debate over election fraud within Florida
What happened in Hamden v Rumsfeld 2006
Decided that Guantanamo Bay inmates should be tried by courts, not military commissions. although, the Military Commissions Act 2006 did overturn this.
What happened in Bourmediene v Bush 2008
Detainees of Guantanamo Bay can seek justice in US Courts, including the Supreme Court.
What happened in Arizona v US
2012
Arizona SB 1070 which meant that immigrants must carry required documents struck down
What happened in US v Texas
2016
Obama’s DACA placed an undue burden upon states to afford the expenses of this, so was overturned. however, some states continued to implement it.
What happened in Trump v Hawaii
2018
Reaffirms Muslim Travel Ban
