key court cases

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Established judicial review; "midnight judges"; John Marshall; power of the Supreme Court

McMulloch v. Maryland (1819

Established national supremacy; established implied powers; use of the elastic clause; state unable to tax fed. Institution; John Marshall; "the power to tax involves the power to destroy".

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Established separate but equal

Schenck v. U.S. (1919

Oliver Wendell Holmes; clear and present danger test; shouting "fire" in a crowded theater; limits on speech, esp. in wartime

Gitlow v. New York (1925

Established precedent of federalizing Bill of Rights (applying them to the states); states cannot deny freedom of speech - protected through due process clause of Amendment 14.

Palko v. Connecticut (1973)

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".

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 Amendment One'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 political judicial activism.

Abbington v. Schempp (1963)

Prohibited devotion Bible reading in public schools by virtue of establishment clause and due process clause. Warren Court's judicial activism.

Gideon v. Wainright (1963)

Ordered states to provide lawyers for those unable to afford them in criminal proceedings. Warren Court's judicial activism in criminal rights.

Wesberrry v. Sanders (1963)

Ordered House districts to be as near equal in population as possible

Griswald v. Connecticut (1965)

Established right of privacy through 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

Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)

Allowed states to provide textbooks and busing to students attending private religious schools. Established 3-part test to determine if establishment clause is violated: nonsecular purpose, advances/inhibits religion, excessive entanglement with governmen

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 estab. in Gris

U.S. v. Nixon (1974)

Allowed for executive privilege, but not in criminal cases: "Even the President is not above the law," Watergate

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.

U.C. Regents v. Bakke (1978)

Alan Bakke and UC Davis Medical School; strict quotas unconst., 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 regulating abortion, though no overturning of Roe v. Wade

Texas v. Johnson (1989)

Struck down Texas law that banned flag burning, which is a protected form of symbolic speech.

Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)

States can regulate abortion, but not with regulations that impose "undue burden" upon women; did not overturn Roe v. Wade, but gave states more leeway in regulating abortion (e.g., 24-hour waiting period, parental consent for minors).

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

Clinton v. NY (1998)

Banned presidential use of line item veto.

Bush v. Gore (2000)

Use of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause to stop the Florida recount in the election of 2000.

Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002)

Public money can be used to send disadvantaged children to religious schools in tuition voucher programs.

Ashcroft v. ACLU (2002)

Struck down a federal ban on "virtual" child pornography.

Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

Using right of privacy, struck down by Texas law banning sodomy.

Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)

Struck down the use of "bonus points" for race in undergrad admissions at University of Michigan.

Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)

Allowed the use of race as a general factor in law school admissions at University of Michigan

Kelo v. City of New London (2005)

Eminent domain case: Local governments may force the sale of private property and make way for private economic development when officials decide it would benefit the public.

Gonzales v. Carhart (2007)

Upheld Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.