Baker v Carr
- one man, one vote
- guidelines for drawing up congresional districts and guaranteed a more equal system of representation
Barron v Baltimore
- bill of rights only applies to the national govt, not the states and cities
- 1833; pre-incorporation doctrine
Buckley v Valeo
- 1st Amendment, free speech
- upheld federal limits on campaign contributions and ruled that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected free speech
- candidates can give unlimited amounts of money to their own campaigns
Bush v Gore
- 14th Amendment, equal protection clause
- recounting the votes in certain counties of Florida was unconstitutional because of equal protection of the law
Citizens United v FEC
- 1st Amendment, free speech
- held that independent expenditures are free speech protected by the 1st Amendment and so cannot be limited by federal law
- lead to creation of SuperPACs & massive rise in amount of third party electioneering
DC v Heller
- 2nd Amendment
- held that 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.
Gonzales v Carhart (Planned Parenthood)
Ruled that Congress's ban on partial-birth abortion was not unconstitutionally vague and did not impose an undue burden on the right to an abortion
Hamdan v Rumsfeld
The court limited the president's ability to use military tribunals
INS v Chadha
1983, one-house legislative vetoes violate the separation of powers and are unconstitutional
Loving v Virginia
- 14th Amendment, equal protection clause (basis for all racial cases)
- struck down states ability to outlaw interracial marriage
Miller v California
- 1st Amendment, freedom of speech
- avoided defining obscenity by saying it depends on the community standards
Oregon v Smith
- Banned the use of illegal drugs in religious ceremonies
- Ruled that the government can act when religious practices violate criminal laws
Planned Parenthood v Casey
- loosened standard for evaluating restrictions on abortion from one of "strict scrutiny" of any restraints on a "fundamental right" to one of "undue burden" that permits considerably more regulation.
Texas v Johnson
- 1st Amendment
- struck down a law banning the burning of the American flag (symbolic speech)
University of California Regents v Bakke
- ruled that schools could use racial criteria as part of their admissions process as long as they did not use fixed quotas
US Term Limits v Thornton
- states can't alter enumerated qualifications for US Congress
Bob Jones University v US
- 14th Amendment in conflict with 1st (Religion)
- IRS denied tax exempt status to a school that denied admission to applicants in interracial relationships
- ruled in favor of IRS, the govt. has fundamental overriding interest in eradicating racism in ed
Brown v Board of Education
- 14th Amendment, Equal Protection Clause
- Segregation is a denial of the equal protection of the laws
- Overturned Plessy v Ferguson.
Dennis v US
- 1st Amendment, freedom of speech
- upheld The Smith Act of 1940 (made it a crime for any person to work for the violent overthrow of the US in peacetime or war)
Dred Scott v Sandford
- 5th Amendment, individual rights
- Upheld property rights over human rights by saying that a slave could not become a free man just because he had traveled in "free soil" with his master
Engel v Vitale
- 1st Amendment, Establishment Clause
- The State Board of Regents in NY required the recitation of a 22-word nonsectarian prayer at the beginning of each school day
- found NY's actions to be unconstitutional
Escobedo v Illinois
- 6th Amendment, right to counsel
- when an investigation turns into an interrogation and the suspect is not warned of his right to remain silent, his 6th amendment right to counsel has been denied
Furman v Georgia
- 8th Amendment, capital punishment
- racial imbalances in death penalty cases
- rewrote their death-penalty statutes to be more objective
Gibbons v Ogden
- the power to regulate interstate commerce was granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause
Gideon v Wainwright
- 6th Amendment, right to counsel
- upheld the 6th Amendment's guarantee of counsel of all poor persons facing a felony charge
Gillow v New York
- 1st Amendment, freedom of speech
- Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution had extended the reach of certain limitations on federal government authority set forth in the First Amendment�specifically the provisions protecting freedom of sp
Gregg v Georgia
- 8th Amendment, cruel and unusual punishment
- punishment of death does not invariably violate the Constitution
Griswold v Connecticut
- 14th Amendment, equal protection
- right to privacy (contraceptives); pieced together portions of First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Ninth Amendments
Grutter v Bollinger; Gratz v Bollinger
- 14th Amendment, equal protection
- considering an applicants race is constitutional
- boosting applicants solely on the basis of race is unconstitutional
Hazelwood School District v Kuhlmeier
1st Amendment, freedom of speech
- Freedom of the press is different for students, principals can censor school newspapers
Heart of Atlanta Motel v US
- Commerce Clause
- Congress has the right to prohibit racial discrimination in places of public accommodation
In Re Gault
- 14th Amendment, equal protection
- juveniles accused of crimes have the same due process rights as adults
Korematsu v US
- upheld the Executive Order (9066) providing for the relocation of Japanese Americans
Lemon v Kurtzman
- 1st Amendment, establishment clause
- aid to church-related schools must ...
(1) have a secular legislative purpose
(2) have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion
(3) not foster excessive government entanglement with religion.
Mapp v Ohio
- 4th Amendment, 14th Amendment, illegal evidence and Due Process Clause
- Established the exclusionary rule was applicable to the states (evidence seized illegally cannot be used in court)
Marbury v Madison
- Article III, judiciary power
- established concept of judicial review
- first time supreme court declared something 'unconstitutional'
McCulloch v Maryland
- Article I, section 8, necessary and proper clause
- State was trying to tax the national bank
- ruled that federal law was stronger than the state law (supremacy clause)
Miranda v Arizona
- 5th, 6th, and 14th Amendments, rights of the accused
- held that criminal suspects must be informed of their right to consult with an attorney and of their right against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police
New Jersey v TLO
- 4th amendment, protects against unreasonable searches
- ruled schools can perform these searches because of reasonable suspicion and probable cause
New York Times v US
- 1st, freedom of the press
- the New York Times could publish classified Pentagon Papers without being censured
- precedent: govt can't suspend publication unless it would cause a "grave and irreparable" danger
Plessy v Ferguson
- 14th Amendment, equal protection clause
- separate but equal
Printz v US
- invalidated a federal law that required local police to conduct background checks on all gun purchasers (unfair regulation of states)
Roe v Wade
9th, right to privacy, 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 or unborn child in 3rd. inferred from right of
Schenck v US
- 1st Amendment, freedom of speech
- govt. can limit speech if the speech provokes a "clear and present danger
School District of Abington Township, Pennsylvania v Schempp
- 1st Amendment, establishment clause
- Held that it should not be necessary to require prayer be said in school
Tinker v Des Moines
- students have the right to express their opinions as long as it doesn't interfere with learning environment
US v Lopez
- Article I, Section 8, Commerce Clause
- ruled that gun-free school zone act exceeded Congress' authority to regulate interstate commerce
US v Nixon
- Separation of powers
- The Supreme Court does have the final voice in determining constitutional questions
- no one is above the law
- the president cannot use executive privilege as an excuse to withhold evidence that is 'demonstrably relevant in a cri
Wallace v Jaffree
State endorsement of prayer activities in schools is prohibited by the First Amendment (establishment clause)
WV Board of Education v Barnette
- 1st Amen, freedom of religion
- held that a compulsory flag salute was unconstitutional