Supreme Court Cases

Question 1

Marbury vs. Madison

Answer 1

Establish judicial review; “midnight judges” ;power of the Supreme Court

Question 2

McCulloch v. Maryland

Answer 2

Established national supremacy, implied powers, use elastic clause; state unable to tax federal institutions; power to tax includes power to destroy

Question 3

Gibbons v. Ogden

Answer 3

Established broad interpretations of commerce clause; determined congress power encompassed virtually every form of commercial activity. The commerce clause has been the constitutional basis for much of congress regulations of the economy.

Question 4

Plessy v. Ferguson

Answer 4

Established separate by equal. Gave Supreme Court approval to Jim Crow law.

Question 5

Schenck v. U.S

Answer 5

Clear and present danger test; shouting fire in a crowded theater; limits on speech, esp. in wartime

Question 6

Gitlow v. New York

Answer 6

Established precedent of federalizing bill of rights (applying them to the states) states cannot deny freedom of speech—protected through due process clause of 14 amendment

Question 7

Brown v. Board,1st

Answer 7

School segregation unconstitutional; segregation psychologically damaging to blacks; overturned separate but equal; use of 14 amendment

Question 8

Brown v. Board 2nd

Answer 8

Ordered schools to desegregate with all due and deliberate speed

Question 9

Mapp v. Ohio

Answer 9

Established exclusionary rule; illegally obtained evidence cannot be used in court, warren courts judicial activism in criminal rights

Question 10

Engel v. Vitale

Answer 10

Prohibited state sponsored recitation of prayer in public schools by virtue of 1st amendment established clause and the 14 amendment due process clause

Question 11

Baker v. Carr

Answer 11

One man one vote. Ordered state legislative districts to be as near equal as possible in population

Question 12

Gideon v. Wainwright

Answer 12

Ordered states to provide lawyers for those unable to afford them in criminal proceedings

Question 13

Wesberry v. Sanders

Answer 13

Ordered house districts to be as near equal in population as possible

Question 14

Miranda v. Arizona

Answer 14

Established Miranda warnings of council and silence.must be given before questioning

Question 15

Roe v. Wade

Answer 15

Established national abortion guidelines; trimester guidelines; no state interference in 1st ; state may regulate to protect health of mother in 2nd ; state may regulate health of unborn child in 3rd. Inferred from right of privacy established in Griswald v. Connecticut

Question 16

U.S v. Nixon

Answer 16

Allowed for executive privilege but not in criminal cases “even the president is not above the law” watergate

Question 17

U.C regents v. Bakke

Answer 17

Bakke and UC Davis med school declared strict quotas unconstitutional but states may allow race to be taken into account as one factor in admissions decisions. Bakke was admitted

Question 18

U.S v. Lopez

Answer 18

Gun free school zone act exceeded congress authority to regulate interstate commerce. The first case to begin reigning in congress authority under the commerce clause

Question 19

Bush v. Gore

Answer 19

Use of 14th amendment equal protection clause to stop Florida recount in the 2000 election

Question 20

Grays v. Bollinger

Answer 20

Struck down use of bonus points for race in underground admissions at university of Michigan affirmative action