Supreme Court Cases

Question 1

Marbury vs Madison

Answer 1

• Defined the powers of the Judicial branch of Judicial Review
• Marbury got a job in the government but the president’s term ended before he got the paper. Marbury argued that he should’ve gotten the job, Supreme Court agreed, and said what the government did was unconstitutional by not giving Marbury his job. Unfortunately, the Judicial branch couldn’t do anything else other than say the Government was wrong, however it defined the Supreme Court’s power of Judicial Review.

Question 2

Brown vs Board of Education

Answer 2

• Segregation is not allowed due to the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.
• Brown wanted to go to the summer school program but was rejected because of her color. She argued that this segregation violated her 14th amendment right and the Supreme Court agreed which ruled out most kinds of segregation in the US public.

Question 3

MacCulloch vs Maryland

Answer 3

• Gave power to the federal government to allow them to establish a national bank without getting taxed by the states by the Elastic Clause(Necessary and Proper Clause) and the Supremacy Clause
• The US gov wanted to establish a bank in Maryland but the state didn’t like that so they tried to close it by taxing it. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the US saying that the federal government is allowed to establish a federal bank anywhere without it being taxed.

Question 4

Schenck vs US

Answer 4

• The US can censor something if it endangers the US and its citizens due to the Clear and Present Danger Test which would override the 1st amendment. This court case also emphasized prior restraint.
• Schenck didn’t like the US drafting men in WWI and was promptly taken to court and ruled guilty due to the Espionage Act of 1917. Schenck believed this was unconstitutional due to the 1st amendment right to speech through the Free Exercise Clause. Although the Supreme Court believed he was correct, they also believed that his opinions were dangerous and threatened the safety of the US leading to the creation of the Clear and Present Danger Test that overrode the 1st amendment if any speech brought out any substantial evil.

Question 5

NYT vs US

Answer 5

• The US government cannot censor something if the speech/press doesn’t inherently endanger national security. This emphasized the idea of prior restraint and the 1st amendment freedom of press.
• NYT received classified documents about the Vietnam War originally from the Pentagon and published two papers about it. The US tried to order NYT to stop but NYT refused because they believed their actions were protected by the 1st amendment freedom of press. The supreme court ruled in favor of NYT.

Question 5

Baker vs Carr

Answer 5

• States cannot Gerrymander due to the 14th amendment’s equal protection clause that described, “one man one vote”
• Baker believed that his vote mattered less in the county he lived in inside the state of Tennessee because his county had a bigger population than other counties. The supreme Court agreed with him and mandated that Tennessee redistrict so that all their counties distributed the population equally.

Question 6

Gideon vs Wainwright

Answer 6

• The states cannot prevent anyone from the right to counsel given by the 6th amendment because the Constitution also applies to the states due to the due process clause from the 14th amendment.
• Gideon was denied a lawyer in the state of Florida because the states believed the 6th amendment did not apply to the states. The Supreme Court ruled against Wainwright stating that the 6th amendment did apply to the states because of the 14th amendment.

Question 7

Wisconsin vs Yoder

Answer 7

• Wisconsin wanted a kid to go to school but the Yoder family’s decision to only have the kid go until the age of 16 due to the 1st amendment free exercise clause or freedom of religion incorporated with the 14th amendment due process clause.
• Wisconsin created a policy where children must attend school until the age of 18. The Yoder family believed that children only need to go to be educated until the age of 16 due to their religion. The supreme court ruled in favor of the Yoder family because the 1st amendment applied to the states due to the 14th amendment.

Question 8

Tinker vs Des Moines

Answer 8

• Tinker was allowed to wear an arm band at school because it did not disrupt the class and was protected by the 1st amendment free exercise clause or freedom of speech.
• The Des Moines school didn’t like Tinker’s arm band and Tinker sued the school because she believed it violated her 1st amendment freedom of speech. The supreme court ruled in favor of that because the 1st amendment applied to the school from the 14th amendment.

Question 9

Shaw vs Reno

Answer 9

• States cannot create a district based solely on race due to the 14th amendment equal protection clause.
• In the years, even though 20% of the North Carolina population was African American, only 7 African Americans were elected to the House of Representatives and none to Senate. In 1992, the 12th district successfully allowed two African Americans to be elected into congress. Five white voters sued because they believed the district violated their 14th amendment equal protection clause since the district was made purely for the purpose of electing an African American into Congress. The Supreme Court agreed and disallowed districting based solely on race.

Question 10

US vs Lopez

Answer 10

• The US couldn’t prevent people from bringing guns to school using the commerce clause because it was unrelated to the economy.
• Lopez brought a gun to school because he believed that the US shouldn’t be able to prevent him with the Gun Free Act. The Supreme Court agreed and argued that the US overstepped their power using the Commerce clause. This weakened the federal government and gave power to the state government.

Question 11

McDonald vs Chicago

Answer 11

• The States and cities cannot restrict guns too much due to the 2nd amendment right to bear arms being applied to stated by the 14th amendment due process clause
• The City of Chicago places a heavy restriction on gun ownership which McDonald believed violated his 2nd amendment right. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of McDonald because the 2nd Amendment applied to all levels of government due to the 14th amendment.

Question 12

Citizens United vs FEC

Answer 12

• The FEC cannot prevent people from spending money how they want due to the 1st amendment free exercise clause.
• Citizens United wanted to spend the money they had on the party they wanted however they wanted. The supreme court agreed due to the 1st amendment. This created SuperPACs that could spend as much money as they wanted but could not directly cooperative with parties.

Question 13

Engel vs Vitale

Answer 13

• Schools or any government service cannot promote religions due to the 1st Amendment free exercise clause or the freedom of religion incorporated and the Establishment Clause.
• Engel sued his school because they held voluntary prayers that didn’t include Engel’s religion. The supreme court ruled in favor of Engel because religion shouldn’t be in state institutions due to the 1st amendment.