Supreme Court Examples

Question 1

First Amendment Court Cases

Answer 1

Morse vs Frederick (2007)
Citizens United vs FEC (2009)
Snyder vs Phelps (2011)
US vs Alvarez (2012)
Burwell vs Hobby Lobby Stores (2014)

Question 2

Morse vs Frederick (2007)

Answer 2

Ruling:
- First Amendment doesn’t stop school administrators from restricting student expression that can be seen as promoting illegal drugs (high school student banner reading, “bong hits for jesus”, outside his school).
Significance:
- 5-4 ruling, swing justice Kennedy siding with conservatives - case showed that the SC is willing to put limits on freedom of speech

Question 3

Citizens United vs FEC (2009)

Answer 3

Ruling:
- The First Amendment prohibits gov from restricting independent expenditures on political campaigns by corporations, including non-profits, labour unions etc.
Significance:
- 5-4 ruling, swing justice Kennedy sided with Conservatives.
- V controversial as extended free speech protection to corporations.
- Elements of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act which sought to curb campaign spending were deemed unconstitutional, opening up elections to unlimited spending

Question 4

Snyder vs Phelps (2011)

Answer 4

Ruling:
- Free speech, even if offensive or causing emotional distress, is not limited
- Court upheld right of Westboro Baptist Church to picket military funerals)
Significance:
- 8-1 ruling protecting free speech
- Justice Alito said, “Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case.”
- Shows justices prioritise constitution over personal beliefs

Question 5

US vs Alvarez (2012)

Answer 5

Ruling:
- First Amendment protects the right to give false statements about military medals
- Alvarez lied about winning military medals, contrary to the 2005 Stolen Valor Act.
Significance:
- 6-3 ruling determining the Stolen Valor Act was unconstitutional
- In 2013 congress reformed it to comply with court ruling: now a false statement must be accompanied with a gain/benefit.
- Show congress changes legislation to fit in with ruling when they have overstepped their boundaries

Question 6

Burwell vs Hobby Lobby Stores (2014)

Answer 6

Ruling:
- Government cannot require employers to provide insurance cover for birth control if it conflicts with the religious beliefs of the employer.
Significance:
- 5-4 ruling, swing justice Kennedy siding with conservatives.
- Ruling based on 1993 Religious Freedoms Restoration Act, rather than the first amendment.
- Victory for religious rights

Question 7

Second Amendment Court Cases

Answer 7

DC vs Heller (2008)
Chicago vs McDonald (2010)

Question 8

Dc vs Heller (2008)

Answer 8

Ruling:
- There is a right to individual gun ownership without connection to the militia, and for the use of self-defence.
Significance:
- 5-4 ruling, swing justice Kennedy sided with conservatives, struck down the Firearms Control Regulations Act (1975), which had banned handguns in DC.
- Judgement did not say that right to bear arms was unlimited

Question 9

Chicago vs McDonald (2010)

Answer 9

Ruling:
- Right to bear arms for self-defence also applies to states, as well as federal government law
Significance:
- Ruling clarified the Heller judgement and made it clear that the individual right to bear arms also applied to the states.

Question 10

Fourth Amendment Court Cases

Answer 10

Carpenter vs US (2018)

Question 11

Carpenter vs US (2018)

Answer 11

Ruling:
- To acquire cell phone location data amounts to a fourth amendment search and therefore requires a warrant to access it
Significance:
- In a 5-4 ruling, the court applied the principles of the Fourth Amendment to an issue arising out of technological advances.
- Roberts sided with the Liberal Justices in the majority opinion

Question 12

Fifth Amendment Court Cases

Answer 12

Berghuis vs Thompkins ( 2010)
Salinas vs Texas (2013)

Question 13

What are the Miranda Rights?

Answer 13

• Right to silence
• The Miranda Rights were established in Miranda vs Arizona (1966)
• Landmark decision which established the procedures surrounding a suspects right to silence under the Fifth Amendment
• E.g., Suspects Rights must be read to them upon arrest.

Question 14

Berghuis vs Thompkins (2010)

Answer 14

Ruling:
- A suspect remaining silent in an interrogation does not invoke their Fifth Amendment right to silence.
Significance:
- 5-4 ruling, swing justice Kennedy siding with conservatives
- Ruling stated that remaining silence was not the same as invoking the right to remain silent.
- Seen as dilution of the absolute right to silence enshrined in the Miranda Ruling

Question 15

Salinas vs Texas (2013)

Answer 15

Ruling:
- Remaining silent before being read your Miranda rights can be used as evidence in a court of law.
Significance:
- 5-4 ruling, swing justice Kennedy siding with Conservatives, further supports dilution of absolute right to silence

Question 16

Eighth Amendment Court Cases

Answer 16

Glossip vs Gross (2015)
Bucklew vs Precythe (2019)

Question 17

Trajectory of Capital Punishment issues prior to the Roberts Course

Answer 17

• Before the Roberts era the Court had imposed growing restrictions on the use of capital punishment
• E.g. Roper v. Simmons, 2005 (Court banned the execution of Under 18s)
• Atkins v. Virginia, 2002 (Court banned the execution of criminals with intellectual disabilities)

Question 18

Glossip vs Gross (2015)

Answer 18

Ruling:
- Lethal injection using midazolam does not violate the Eighth Amendment ban on Cruel and Unusual Punishments
Significance:
- 5-4 ruling, swing justice Kennedy sided with conservatives.
- Court rejected Glossip’s argument that the use of midazolam was cruel as it had been used in a botched execution a year earlier, where the condemned man had taken 43 minutes to die

Question 19

Bucklew vs Precythe (2019)

Answer 19

Ruling:
- If a convict claims a method of capital punishment is excessively painful, they must show alternatives.
Significance:
- 5-4 ruling, where the burden is placed on the convict to show there were alternative methods if they claimed the one their state used was excessively painful

Question 20

Fourteenth Amendment Court Cases

Answer 20

Whole Women’s Health vs Hellerstedt (2016)
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organisation (2022)
Obergefell vs Hodges (2015)

Question 21

Whole Women’s Health vs Hellerstedt (2016)

Answer 21

Ruling: The requirements placed on abortion centres by a Texas law were “an undue burden” and therefore unconstitutional.
Significance: 5-3 ruling, with Kennedy siding with the liberals.
- Held up Roe vs Wade and overturned state law
- Challenging the principle of Federalism

Question 22

Dobbs vs Jackson Women’s Health Organisation (2022)

Answer 22

Ruling:
- The Fourteenth Amendment does not confer a right to an abortion; the authority to regulate abortions is returned to the states.
Significance:
- 6-3 decision, reflecting the conservative-liberal division of the court.
- Landmark ruling overturning the 1973 Roe vs Wade ruling
- At the confirmation hearings, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Coney Barret all said Roe vs Wade was “settled” but voted against it.

Question 23

Trajectory of LGBTQ+ rights before the Roberts Court

Answer 23

• Prior to 2005 the Court’s position on LGBTQ+ rights had moved rapidly.
• In Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) the Court had upheld the right of states to criminalise homosexuality.
• In Lawrence v. Garner (2003) it overruled that decision, decriminalising homosexuality across the US.

Question 24

Obergefell vs Hodges (2015)

Answer 24

Ruling:
- The right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples under the “equal protection” clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Significance:
- 5-4 ruling, swing justice Kennedy joined the liberals.
- Declared all states banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional