Supreme Court Decisions Flashcards
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
Established the principle of judicial review
Worcester v. Georgia (1832)
Recognized the Cherokee tribe as a political entity; Georgia couldn’t regulate them nor invade their land
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
Ruled the African Americans were not citizens of the US; declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
A state could not tax a national bank
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
Federal government (not the state governments) had the power to regulate trade between the states
U.S v. Reese (1876)
Declared that the 15th Amendment did not automatically protect the right of African Americans to vote(only listed the ways that states were not allowed to prevent them from voting)
Munn v. Illinois (1877)
Said that states and federal government could regulate railroads because they were businesses that served the public interest.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Established the principle of “seperate but equal” said segregated facilities per se did not violate the 14th amendment
Muller v. Oregon (1908)
A state could legally limit working hours for women (Oregon law had established a ten-hour workday)
Bunting v. Oregon (1917)
A ten-hour work day was upheld for men
Morgan v. Virginia (1946)
Segregation on interstate busses was unconstitutional
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson ruled that segregated schools are inherently unqueal, mandated desegregation.
Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
Evidence obtained illegally could not be used in court
Baker v. Carr (1962)
Electoral district lines that are arbitrarily drawn violate voter’s constitutional rights and may be challenged
Gideon v. Wainwrite (1963)
Poor people are entitled to free legal counsel
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
Police required to inform all criminal suspects of their constiutional rights - “miranda rights”.
Swann v. Charlotte Board of Education (1971)
Busing may be used to achieve racial balance in schools where segregation had been an official policy and no alternative plan was provided.
Roe v. Wade (1953)
Gave women the right to seek abortion
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
Allan Bakke, a white student, had to be admitted to the UC Medical Schoool, a victim of “reverse discrimination”
Webster v. Reproductive Health Care Services (1989)
States allowed to impose restrictions on abortion
Abrams v. US (1919)
Espionage act is valid, a crime to publish disloyal language about US politics
Buck v. Bell (1927)
Okay to sterilize feeble-minded
Near v. Minnesota (1931)
Can’t sensor the press, even if they’re obsecene
Engel v. Vitale (1962)
School prayer is unconstitutional; separation of church and state
Loving v. Virginia (1967)
Unconstitutional to make inter-racial marriage illegal
US v. Nixon (1974)
Executive privilege doesn’t make Nixon above the law
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
Burning flag = freedom of expression
Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
Consensual gay sex is okay
Massachusetts v. EPA
EPA has to regulate auto carbon emissions
DC v. Heller (2008)
Citizens can possess firearms for self-defense
Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
Individuals can spend as much $ to promote a candidate as long as they don’t benefit directly
National Fed of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012)
Defended Affordable Care Act as a “tax”
Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)
Right to same-sex marriage
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health
Overturned Roe v. Wade
Bush v. Gore (2000)
Settled recount dispute
