AP Government Important Court Cases
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- Marbury v. Madison (1803)
- Established judicial review; “midnight judges;†John Marshall; power of the Supreme Court.
- McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
- Established national supremacy; established implied powers; use of elastic clause; state unable to tax fed. institution; John Marshall; “the power to tax involves the power to destroy.â€
- Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
- Court struck down Ogden’s New York steamboat monopoly. Signaled Court’s broad interpretation of the Commerce Clause as encompassing all types of commercial activity.
- Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
- Established separate but equal doctrine.
- Schenck v. US (1919)
- Oliver Wendell Holmes; clear and present danger test; shouting “fire†in a crowded theater; limits on speech, esp. in wartime (urging men to resist the draft, war warrants abridgement of speech).
- Gitlow v. New York (1925)
- Anarchist calling for overthrow of the government. Established precedent of federalizing Bill of Rights (applying them to States); States cannot deny freedom of speech – protected through due process clause of Amendment 14
- Palko v. Connecticut (1937)
- Provided test for determining which parts of Bill of Rights should be federalized – those which are implicitly or explicitly necessary for liberty to exist.
- Brown v. Board, 1st (1954)
- School segregation unconstitutional; segregation psychologically damaging to blacks; overturned separate but equal; use of 14th Amendment; judicial activism of Warren Court; unanimous decision.
- Brown v. Board, 2nd (1955)
- Ordered schools to desegregate “with all due and deliberate speed.â€
- Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
- Established exclusionary rule; illegally obtained evidence cannot be used in court; Warren Court’s judicial activism.
- Engel v. Vitale (1962)
- Prohibited state-sponsored recitation of prayer in public schools by virtue of 1st Amendment’s establishment clause and the 14th Amendment’s due process clause; Warren Court’s judicial activism.
- Baker v. Carr (1962)
- “One man, one vote.†Ordered state legislative districts to be as near equal as possible in population; Warren Court’s judicial activism.
- Abbington v. Schempp (1963)
- Prohibited devotional Bible reading in public schools by virtue of establishment clause and due process clause. Warren Court’s judicial activism
- Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
- Ordered states to provide lawyers for those unable to afford them in criminal proceedings. Warren Court’s judicial activism in criminal rights.
- Wesberry v. Sanders (1963)
- Ordered House districts to be as near equal in population as possible (extension of Baker v. Carr to Congressional districts).
- Escobedo v. Illinois (1964)
- Established right of accused to invoke 6th amendment at any time during police questioning to exercise right to counsel
- Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
- Established right of privacy implied in 4th and 9th Amendments; set a precedent for Roe v. Wade.
- Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
- Established Miranda warnings of counsel and silence. Must be given before questioning. Warren Court’s judicial activism in criminal rights.
- Epperson v. Arkansas (1968)
- Prohibited states from banning the teaching of evolution.
- Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)
- Guaranteed a student’s right to protest (wearing armbands).
- Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
- Established 3-part test to determine if establishment clause is violated: non-secular purpose, advances/inhibits religion, excessive entanglement with government.
- Furman v. Georgia (1972)
- State death penalties (as then applied) are arbitrary and violate equal protection of 14th Amendment.
- Roe v. Wade (1973)
- Established national abortion guidelines; trimester guidelines; no state interference in 1st, state may regulate to protect health of mother in 2nd, state may regulate to protect health of unborn child in 3rd. Inferred from right of privacy established in Griswald v. Connecticut.
- Miller v. California (1973)
- Creates Miller test for obscenity; community standards, illegal sexual conduct in patently offensive way, lacks artistic value.
- U.S. v. Nixon (1974)
- Allowed for executive privilege, but not in criminal cases; “Even the President is not above the law;†Watergate scandal.
- Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
- Upheld new Georgia death penalty laws requiring dual-phase trial and special circumstances; capital punishment does not constitute cruel & unusual punishment of 8th Amendment.
- Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
- 1st Amendment protects campaign spending; legislatures can limit contributions, but not how much one spends of his own money on campaigns.
- Bakke v. UC Regents (1978)
- Alan Bakke and UC Davis Medical School; strict quotas unconstitutional, but states may allow race to be taken into account as ONE factor in admissions decisions. Bakke admitted.
- Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1987)
- More leeway for states in regulation abortion, though no overturning of Roe v. Wade. Upholds MO law prohibiting abortion in public hospitals; shift in composition of court. (Later cases allow 24-hour waiting periods, parental consent for minors, etc.)
- Texas v. Johnson (1989)
- Flag-burning is symbolic speech with a political purpose and is protected by 1st Amendment.
- Shaw v. Reno (1993)
- NO racial gerrymandering; race cannot be the sole or predominant factor in redrawing legislative boundaries; majority-minority districts.
- U.S. v. Lopez (1995)
- Gun Free School Zones Act exceeded Congress’ authority to regulate interstate commerce.
- Bush v. Gore (2000)
- Use of 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause to stop the Florida recount in the election of 2000.