Supreme Court Cases

Question 0

The 1925 Supreme Court Decision holding that freedoms of press and speech are “fundamental personal rights and liberties protected by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment from impairment by the states” as well as by the federal government. “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities or citizens of the US or deprive any person of life, liberty, or property

Answer 0

Gitlow v. New York

Question 1

The 1833 Supreme Court decision holding that the Bill of rights restrained only the national government, not the states and cities

Answer 1

Barron v. Baltimore

Question 2

The 1971 Supreme Court decision that established that aid to church-related schools must 1) have a secular legislative purpose, 2) have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion; and 3) not foster excessive government entanglement with religion

Answer 2

Lemon v. Kurtzman

Question 3

The 1962 Supreme Court decision holding that state officials violated the First Amendment when they wrote a prayer to be recited by New York’s school children

Answer 3

Engel v. Vitals

Question 4

The 1931 Supreme Court decision holding that the First Amendment protects newspapers from the government rejecting their ability to be published (prior restraint)

Answer 4

Near v. Minnesota

Question 5

A 1919 decision upholding the conviction of a socialist who had urged young men to resist the draft during World War 1. Justice Holmes declared that government can limit speech if the speech provokes a “clear and present danger” of substantive evils. (Upheld free speech)

Answer 5

Schenck v. United States

Question 6

A 1978 Supreme Court decision holding that a proper search warrant could be applied to a newspaper as well as to anyone else without necessarily violating the First Amendment rights to freedom of the press

Answer 6

Zurcher v. Stanford Daily

Question 7

A 1973 Supreme Court decision that avoided defining obscenity by holding that community standards be used to determine whether material is obscene in terms of appealing to a “prurient interest” and being “patently offensive” and lacking In value

Answer 7

Miller v. California

Question 8

Decided in 1964 this case established the guidelines for determining whether public officials and public figures could win damage suits for libel. To do so, individuals must prove that the defamatory statements were made with “actual malice” and reckless disregard for the truth

Answer 8

New York Times v. Sullivan

Question 9

A 1989 case in which the Supreme Court struck down a law banning the burning of the American flag on the grounds that such action was symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment

Answer 9

Texas v. Johnson

Question 10

The Supreme Court protected the right to assemble peaceably in this 1958 case when it decided the NAACP did not have to reveal its membership list and thus subject it’s members to harassment

Answer 10

NAACP v. Alabama

Question 11

The 1961 Supreme Court decision ruling that the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures must be extended to the states as well as to the federal government

Answer 11

Mapp v. Ohio

Question 12

The 1966 Supreme Court decision that sets guidelines for police questioning of accused persons to protect them against self-incrimination and to protect their right to counsel

Answer 12

Miranda v. Arizona

Question 13

The 1963 Supreme Court decision holding that anyone accused of a felony where imprisonment may be imposed, however poor he or she might be, has a right to a lawyer

Answer 13

Gideon v. Wainwright

Question 14

The 1976 Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty, stating that “It is an extreme sanction, suitable to the most extreme of crimes.” The court did not, therefore, believe that the death sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment

Answer 14

Gregg v. Georgia

Question 15

The 1987 Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty against charges that it violated the Fourteenth Amendment because minority defendants were more likely to receive the death penalty than were white defendants

Answer 15

McCleskey v. Kemp

Question 16

The 1973 Supreme Court case decision holding that a state ban on all abortions was unconstitutional. The decision forbade state control over abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy, permitted states to limit abortions to protect the mother’s health in the second trimester, and permitted states to protect the fetus during the third trimester.

Answer 16

Roe v. Wade

Question 17

A 1992 case in which the Supreme Court loosened its standard for evaluating restrictions on abortion from one of “strict scrutiny” of any restraints on a “fundamental right” to one of “undue burden” that permits considerably more regulation

Answer 17

Planned Parenthood v. Casey