Important Court Cases
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- Brown v. Board (1955)
- ordered schools to desegregate with "all due and deliberate speed"
- Roe v. Wade
- established national abortion guidelines based on trimesters; 1st no state interference, 2nd state may regulate to protect health of mother; 3rd state may regulate to protect health of unborn child
- Slaughterhouse cases
- the 5th and 14th amendments do not guarantee federal protection of individual rights of all citizens of the United States against discrimination by their own state governments; made a distinction between state citizenship and national citizenship
- US v. Lopez
- court ruled that gun-free school zone act exceeded Congress' authority to regulate interstate commerce; Congress must defer to states; Rehnquist judicial restraint, judicial supremacy
- Dickerson v. US
- 2000; court upheld the miranda decision; struck down a congressional act allowing voluntary confessions to be accepted before their miranda rights had been read; Rehnquist judicial restraint
- UAW v. Johnson Controls
- allowed women to work in a battery factory even though there was a chance that working there would render them infertile
- Gregg v. Georgia
- made capital punishment constitutional; overturned Furman v. Georgia (1972) which stated that capital punishment was unconstitutional
- US v. Nixon
- executive privilege does not work when president has committed a crime
- Muller v. Oregon
- stated that there were inherent differences between men and women and that therefore women should not be allowed to work in certain jobs or conditions
- Skokie case
- supreme court allowed the Nazi party to march through the predominantly Jewish section of a city in Illinois; had been previously prevented by the city; time, place, and manner regulations
- Bush v. Gore
- this case ruled in favor of Bush by saying that recounting the votes in certain counties of Florida was unconstitutional because of equal protection of the law; Gore's wish to make the process as simple and painless as possible backfired
- Griswold v. Connecticut
- married couple wanted to get contraceptives; struck down a Connecticut law prohibiting the sale of contraceptives; established the right of privacy through the 4th and 9th amendment
- Brown v. Board (1954)
- school segregation was unconstitutional; overturned Plessy v. Ferguson; Warren's court judicial activism, unanimous decision so that no one could dispute
- Barron v. Baltimore
- 1833; court ruled that Bill of Rights only applied to the national government, not the states; created dual citizenship
- Tinker v. Des Moines
- students wore black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War; student's rights are not "shed at the schoolhouse gates," symbolic speech allowed
- Grutter v. Bollinger
- affirmative action case (lost) ; race could be used as a factor in admissions as long as there was no point system and race was not a major factor; upheld Bakke case
- Newdow case
- although a lower court decided that the phrase "under god" was unconstitutional based on the separation of church and state, the supreme court ruled that this guy did not have legal standing to bring the case to court because he did not have custody of the daughter
- Gratz v. Bollinger
- affirmative action case; a point system for admission in which points were given for race was ruled unconstitutional; too much like a quota system; upheld Bakke case
- Baker v. Carr
- "one man, one vote," prohibited racial gerrymandering; ordered state legislative districs to be near equal in population as possible
- Miller v. California
- established guidelines for obscenity; lacks serious redeeming value
- Mapp v. Ohio
- established the exclusionary rule; evidence illegally obtained cannot be used in court; Warren Court's judicial activism
- New Jersey v. TLO
- weakened Tinker v. Des Moines; gave schools ability to search students suspected of violating school rules without limit
- Plessy v. Ferguson
- allowed segregation, "separate but equal"
- Lemon case
- established a three part test to determine if establishment clause is violated; nonsecular purpose, advances or inhibits religion. excessive entanglement with religion
- Engel v. Vitale
- upheld establishment clause; prohibited school sponsored prayer in public schools; Warren court's judicial activism
- Schenck case
- clear and present danger test; shouting "fire" in a crowded theater; limits on speech especially in wartime
- Marbury v. Madison
- ruled by John Marshall; Marbury wanted the Supreme Court to order Madison to deliver his commission; ruled section of the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional; established Judicial Review
- Rodriguez Case
- (1973) stated that education was not a fundamental right; a school-financing system based on local property taxes did not violate the 14th amendment because there was de facto segregation not de jure segregation
- Zelman case
- stated that vouchers were constitutional; did not break the establishment clause
- Planned Parenthood v. Casey
- states may regulate abortion as long as there is "no undue burden" on the mother; did not overturn Roe v. Wade but gave states mroe leeway in regulating abortion (parental consent for minors, 24 hour waiting period)
- Lawrence v. Texas
- overturned Bowers v. Hardwick; a law stating that homosexual relations were sodomy is unconstitutional
- Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
- enemy combatants in the US still have due process rights; 5th amendment
- Santeria Case
- prohibited a law in Florida banning animal sacrifice; upheld the free exercise clause in the First Amendment
- Gitlow v. New York
- established selective incorporation of the Bill of rights; states cannot deny freedom of speech; protected through the 14th amendment
- Roemer v. Evans
- CO created an amendment that prohibited counties from passing laws protecting homosexuals from discrimination; ruled unconstitutional
- Gideon v. Wainwright
- ordered states to provide lawyers for those unable to afford them; Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments; Warren Court's judicial activism
- Miranda v. Arizona
- est. warnings of counsel and silence for the accused; must be given before questioning; warren court's judicial activism for criminals
- US v. Leon
- weakened Mapp v. Ohio; allowed a "good faith" exception to the exclusionary rule as long as the core values of Mapp v. Ohio were not violated
- Texas v. Johnson
- burning a flag is a form of symbolic speech
- Bakke case
- student wanted to be admitted into Davis Medical Program; strict quotas were unconstitutional but race is allowed as a factor in admission decisions as long as it is not the only one; affirmative action is constitutional;
- McCulloch v. Maryland
- John Marshall ruled that a state could not tax the Bank of the US; commerce clause, necessary and proper, "the power to tax involves the power to destroy"