Very Important Court Cases

Question 1

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Answer 1

Supreme court case in which judicial review was established

Question 2

Barron v. Baltimore (1833)

Answer 2

Barron v. Baltimore (1833) Established that Bill of Rights protections were NOT incorporated. In other words, the Bill of Rights only applied to the national government, not the states. (Later overruled through the process of selective incorporation).

Question 3

Engle v. Vitale (1962)

Answer 3

A state composed prayer, read over the loud-speaker at school, is an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause, even if participating in the prayer was voluntary.

Question 4

Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)

Answer 4

Established a test to determine if a government action violated the Establishment Clause. To be constitutional, the policy had to:
-have a secular purpose
-neither advance nor inhibit religion AND
-avoid excessive entanglement of the government and religion
Not totally followed anymore

Question 5

Reynolds v. U.S. (1879)

Answer 5

Court upheld federal law against polygamy despite claims of free exercise of religion by Mormons.

Question 6

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Answer 6

Wisconsin laws required all children, including Amish, to attend school beyond 8th grade. Amish objected. Court ruled in favor of Amish on Free Exercise grounds.

Question 7

Oregon v. Smith (1990)

Answer 7

Upheld the actions of Oregon denying unemployment benefits to a Native American man fired for using peyote for religious reasons.

Question 8

Gitlow v. New York (1925)

Answer 8

Established precedent of incorporation (selectively applying the Bill of Rights to the states); states cannot deny freedom of speech because of due process clause of Amendment 14 which extends certain fundamental rights to the states.
Overturned Barron v. Baltimore.

Question 9

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Answer 9

After being warned not to by school administrators, students wore black arm bands to school to protest the Vietnam War. Students were suspended. Supreme Court ruled against school and said that students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate. If the armbands would’ve been disruptive to the educational process, they could’ve been restricted.

Question 10

Miller v. California (1973)

Answer 10

Obscenity is not protected free speech and in this case the Court attempted to define obscenity. To be obscene all 3 must apply:-average person would say it appeals to prurient interest-describes or depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive way and-lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value (LAPS test)

Question 11

Brandenburg v. Ohio (1968)

Answer 11

KKK held rally and Klan leader made speech that he was arrested for b/c Ohio said it violated a law banning speech that advocated “crime, sabotage, violence, or unlawful methods of terrorism…”. Court ruled that the law was too broad and violated free speech. They ruled, however that speech directed to incite imminent lawless action AND likely to incite such action can be prohibited.

Question 12

Texas v. Johnson (1989)

Answer 12

Flag burning is protected speech under the 1st amendment. (Symbolic speech)

Question 13

New York Times v. United States (1971)

Answer 13

Prior restraint not permissible except in very limited instances.
The First Amendment did protect the right of the NY Times’ to print the Pentagon Papers. To exercise Prior Restraint, the Govt must show the publication would cause an inevitable, direct, and immediate event imperiling the safety of American forces. They did not in this case.

Question 14

New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)

Answer 14

Case in which the Supreme Court concluded that “actual malice” must be proven to support a finding of libel against a public figure. (Burden different when “victim” is public official. False and harmful not enough, must also show paper knew they were false)

Question 15

Near v. Minnesota (1931)

Answer 15

A newspaper publisher wrote editorial attacking public officials that made some anti-semitic remarks. State tried to shut down paper using state law that banned malicious, scandalous, and defamatory periodicals. SC ruled that state could not shut paper down b/c doing so amounted to prior restraint of the press (stopping something from being published prior to being published). Banned prior restraint of press except in extremely limited circumstances.

Question 16

D.C. v. Heller (2008)

Answer 16

The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that firearm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self- defense within the home.

Question 17

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

Answer 17

The 2nd amendment was incorporated to apply to the states.

Question 18

Weeks v. U.S. (1914)

Answer 18

Established the exclusionary rule (evidence obtained illegally by law enforcement cannot be used in court).

Question 19

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Answer 19

incorporated the exclusionary rule

Question 20

New Jersey v. TLO (1985)

Answer 20

Asst. Principal’s search of student’s purse after teacher accused her of smoking in restroom. Drugs found. Allowed search and seizure in schools without a search warrant as long as there was reasonable suspicion (even if not probable cause).

Question 21

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Answer 21

Man arrested for kidnapping and rape. Police interrogated him w/out informing him that he had a right not to talk to them. Conviction thrown out as SC ruled that police must inform the accused of their right to remain silent and right to an attorney prior to questioning. Established precedent that “Miranda warnings” must be read to the arrested.

Question 22

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Answer 22

Fla. man broke into pool hall and stole beer, change, and cigarettes. Poor and asked for attorney, but was not given one b/c it was not a capital case. Convicted and sentenced to 5 years. Appealed from jail. SC ruled in his favor and required states to provide attorneys to those unable to afford (incorporated) in any felony case.

Question 23

Roper v. Simmons (2005)

Answer 23

Court ruled that capital punishment for those under 18 years of age when crime was committed constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and is therefore unconstitutional.

Question 24

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

Answer 24

Established that despite no specific constitutional language, the Constitution does protect privacy and thus the right for married couples to use contraception. The Court reasoned that the 1st, 3rd, 4th, & 9th amendments taken together establish a privacy right. This implied right to privacy was later the basis of a constitutional right to an abortion in Roe v. Wade.

Question 25

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Answer 25

Many states had laws that strictly limited abortions. In Texas, they were only permitted to save a woman’s life. SC ruled that the right to privacy, indirectly granted by the Constitution, gives a woman the right to an abortion.1st trimester- woman given total autonomy2nd & 3rd trimesters- states could have different levels of regulation

Question 26

Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)

Answer 26

Court reaffirmed Roe, but permitted additional restrictions that Pennsylvania placed on abortion including a 24 hour waiting period and a minor having to get consent of one parent (or judicial bypass option). SC did not uphold the requirement that a woman had to notify her husband.New standard: abortion restrictions cannot create an “undue burden” (substantial obstacle) on a woman seeking an abortion before fetal viability.

Question 27

Lawrence v Texas (2003)

Answer 27

Overturned Bowers v. Hardwick and ruled that states may not ban certain homosexual conduct because of privacy rights.

Question 28

Plessy v Ferguson, (1896)

Answer 28

Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in private businesses (particularly trains), under the doctrine of “separate but equal”. This segregation did not violate the equal protection clause as long as the segregated facilities were equal.

Question 29

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Answer 29

The Court ruled that state laws requiring separate but equal schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision overruled Plessy v. Ferguson.

Question 30

Brown v. Board of Education II (1955)

Answer 30

Many southern school districts asked for more time to implement desegregation after the previous SC ruling. The Supreme Court put enforcement in the hands of district courts and ordered that the desegregation be done “with all deliberate speed”. Many believed that this allowed southern schools to delay the desegregation ordered by the Court the previous year.

Question 31

Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)

Answer 31

Ruled that the goal of diversity in a student body, with race as one factor in that diversity, is constitutional under the Equal Protection Clause, thus race can be used as one of many factors in the admission process

Question 32

Gratz v Bollinger (2003)

Answer 32

Michigan gave bonus points for race in their undergraduate admissions process. Court struck down the policy as too mechanical and not narrowly tailored to giving applications “individualized consideration”.

Question 33

Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

Answer 33

1st Amendment protects campaign spending as symbolic speech. Legislatures can limit contributions, but not how much one spends of his own money on campaigns.

Question 34

Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)

Answer 34

“Fighting words” are not protected speech.

Question 35

Zelman v. Simmons- Harris (2002)

Answer 35

Upheld Ohio voucher program allowing tuition funds to be given to students to enroll in private (mostly Catholic) schools since program was neutral toward religion and allowed parental choice.

Question 36

Schenck v. U.S. (1919)

Answer 36

Right to free speech is not unlimited. Speech that presents a “clear and present danger” in wartime can be punished. Shenck urged others to resist the draft.
SC: “Shouting fire in a crowed theater” not protected.