Supreme Court Cases You Need to Know

1. Supreme Court Cases You Need to Know Cases that could appear on your AP Test

2. Marbury v. Madison • Decision: • Ruled the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional • Constitutional Issue: • Established judicial review

3. McCulloch v. Maryland • Decision • Ruled that although no provision of the Constitution grants the national government the expressed power to create a national bank, the authority to do so can be implied by the necessary and proper clause • Constitutional Issue • Explained the Necessary & Proper clause (“Elastic Clause” giving Congress “ Implied Powers”)

4. Gibbons v. Ogden • Decision • Defined commerce as including all business dealings, and the power to regulate interstate commerce belongs exclusively to the national government • Constitutional Issue • Expanded Congress’ Power under the Commerce Clause to include matters “affecting interstate commerce”, thereby allowing regulation of interstate activity

5. Gitlow v. New York • Decision • Interpreted the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment to apply the guarantees of the Bill of rights to state and local governments (incorporation) • Constitutional Issue • Due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

6. U.S. v. O’Brien • Decision • Draft Card burning not protected symbolic speech • Constitutional Issue • First Amendment free speech

7. Emerson v. Board of Education • Decision • Court upheld a New Jersey policy of reimbursing parents of Catholic School students for the costs of busing their children to school • Constitutional Issue • Establishment clause of First Amendment

8. Engle v. Vitale • Decision • Court ruled school-sanctioned prayer in public schools unconstitutional • Constitutional Issue • Establishment clause of First Amendment

9. Abington School District v. Schempp • Decision • Court struck down a Pennsylvania law requiring the reading of a Bible passage at the beginning of each day • Constitutional Issue • Establishment clause of First Amendment

10. Lemon v. Kurtzman • Decision • Court struck down a Pennsylvania law reimbursing schools for textbooks and teachers salaries and established the Lemon test. • Constitutional Issue • Establishment clause of First Amendment

11. Lynch v. Donnelley • Decision • The Court upheld the right of government entities to celebrate the Christmas holiday with Christmas displays that might include nativity scenes, if secular displays are also sufficiently included • Constitutional Issue • Establishment clause of First Amendment

12. Wallace v. Jaffree • Decision • Court overturned a state law setting aside time for “voluntary prayer” in public schools • Constitutional Issue • Establishment clause of First Amendment

13. Edwards v. Aguillard • Decision • Court ruled that Louisiana could not force public schools that taught evolution to also teach creationism • Constitutional Issue • Establishment clause of First Amendment

14. Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens • Decision • The Court upheld the Equal Access Act of 1990, which required public schools to provide religious groups the same access to facilities that other extracurricular groups had • Constitutional Issue • Establishment clause of First Amendment

15. Lee v. Weisman • Decision • The Court ruled against clergy-led prayer at high school graduations ceremonies • Constitutional Issue • Establishment clause of First Amendment

16. Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe • Decision • The Court overruled a Texas law allowing high school students to read a prayer at athletic events such as a football game • Constitutional Issue • Establishment clause of First Amendment

17. Reynolds v. United States • Decision • The Court upheld the federal law that prohibited polygamy even though Reynolds, a Mormon from Utah, claimed it limited his religious freedom. • Constitutional Issue • Free exercise clause of the First Amendment

18. Wisconsin v. Yoder • Decision • The Court ruled that Wisconsin could not require Amish parents to send their children to public schools beyond the eighth grade because it would violate long-held religious beliefs. • Constitutional Issue • Free exercise clause of the First Amendment

19. Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith • Decision • The Court ruled that Oregon could deny unemployment benefits to workers fired for using drugs (peyote) as part of a religious ceremony. • Constitutional Issue • Free exercise clause of the First Amendment

20. Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah • Decision • Court ruled that laws banning animal sacrafice were unconstitutional because they targeted the Santeria religion. • Constitutional Issue • Free exercise clause of the First Amendment

21. Schenk v. United States • Decision • Court ruled that protesting draft during wartime was not protected because it would create a clear and present danger, establishing a standard for measuring what would and would not be protected speech • Constitutional Issue • Free speech of the First Amendment

22. Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire • Decision • The Court ruled that the first amendment did not protect “fighting words” • Constitutional Issue • Free speech of the First Amendment

23. Tinker v. Des Moines • Decision • The Court ruled that wearing black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War was “pure speech” or symbolic speech, protected by the First Amendment • Constitutional Issue • Free speech of the First Amendment

24. Brandenburg v. Ohio • Decision • The Court made the “clear and present danger” test less restrictive • Constitutional Issue • Free speech of the First Amendment

25. Miller v. California • Decision • The Court established the Miller test, which sets the standards for measuring obsenity • Constitutional Issue • Free speech of the First Amendment

26. Texas v. Johnson • Decision • The Court ruled that flag burning is a protected form of symbolic speech • Constitutional Issue • Free speech of the First Amendment

27. Reno v. ACLU • Decision • The Court ruled the Communications Decency Act unconstitutional because it was “overly broad and vague” in regulating internet speech • Constitutional Issue • Free speech of the First Amendment

28. Near v. Minnesota • Decision • The Court applied the protections of free press to the states under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and prohibited prior restraint • Constitutional Issue • Free press of the First Amendment

29. New York Times v. Sullivan • Decision • The Court protected statements about public officials • Constitutional Issue • Free speech of the First Amendment

30. New York Times v. United States • Decision • The Court reaffirmed its position of prior restraint, refusing to stop the publication of the Pentagon Papers • Constitutional Issue • Free speech of the First Amendment

31. Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier • Decision • The Court ruled in favor of school district censorship of student newspapers as long as censorship is related to legitimate concerns • Constitutional Issue • Free speech of the First Amendment

32. Dejonge v. Oregon • Decision • The Court established that the right of association (assembly) was as important as other First Amendment rights and used the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to apply freedom of assembly to the states • Constitutional Issue • Freedom of Assembly of the First Amendment

33. Griswold v. Connecticut • Decision • The Court upheld that the Constitution created “zones of privacy” and enhanced the concept of enumerated rights of the Ninth Amendment • Constitutional Issue • Right to privacy

34. Roe v. Wade • Decision • The outcome was a continuation of the recognition of a constitutional right of privacy for a woman to determine whether to terminate a pregnancy • Constitutional Issue • Right to privacy

35. Wolf v. Colorado • Decision • The Court applied protections against unreasonable search and seizure to the states under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment • Constitutional Issue • Fourth Amendment: Search and seizure

36. Mapp v. Ohio • Decision • The Court ruled that evidence obtained without a search warrant was excluded from trial in state courts • Constitutional Issue • Fourth Amendment: Search and seizure

37. Terry v. Ohio • Decision • The Court ruled that searches of criminal suspects are constitutional and police may search suspects for safety purposes • Constitutional Issue • Fourth Amendment: Search and seizure

38. Nix v. Williams • Decision • The Court established the inevitable discovery rule, allowing evidence discovered as the result of an illegal search to be introduced if it can be shown that the evidence would have been found anyway • Constitutional Issue • Fourth Amendment: Search and seizure

39. United States v. Leon • Decision • The Court established the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule • Constitutional Issue • Fourth Amendment: Search and seizure

40. Miranda v. Arizona • Decision • The Court ruled that suspects in police custody have certain rights and that they must be informed of those rights (right to remain silent, right to attorney) • Constitutional Issue • Fifth Amendment: Self-Incrimination

41. Powell v. Alabama • Decision • The Court established that the due process clause of the fourteenth Amendment guarantees defendants in death penalty cases the right to an attorney • Constitutional Issue • Sixth Amendment: Right to an Attorney

42. Betts v. Brady • Decision • The Court ruled that poor defendants in non-capital cases are not entitled to an attorney at government expense • Constitutional Issue • Fourth Amendment: Search and seizure

43. Gideon v. Wainwright • Decision • The Court ruled that in state trials, those who cannot afford an attorney will have one provided by the state, overturning Betts v. Brady • Constitutional Issue • Fourth Amendment: Search and seizure

44. Furman v. Georgia • Decision • The Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional under existing state law because it was imposed arbitrarily • Constitutional Issue • Eighth Amendment: Cruel and Unusual Punishments

45. Gregg v. Georgia • Decision • In this case, the death penalty was constitutional because it was imposed based upon the circumstances of the case • Constitutional Issue • Eighth Amendment: Cruel and Unusual Punishments

46. Plessy v. Ferguson • Decision • The Court upheld the Jim Crow laws by allowing separate facilities for the different races if those facilities were equal. Created the separate but equal doctrine • Constitutional Issue • Fourteenth Amendment

47. Brown v. Topeka Board of Education • Decision • Overturned the Plessy decision, ruling separate but equal is unconstitutional • Constitutional Issue • Fourteenth Amendment

48. Brown v. Topeka Board of Education II • Decision • Court ordered the desegregation of schools “with all deliberate speed” • Constitutional Issue • Fourteenth Amendment

49. Reed v. Reed • Decision • Court ruled against a law which discriminated against women • Constitutional Issue • Equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

50. Romer v. Evans • Decision • Court ruled that a Colorado constitutional amendment invalidating state and local laws that protected homosexuals from discrimination was unconstitutional because it violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment • Constitutional Issue • Equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment