Supreme Court Cases You Need to Know

Cases that could appear on your AP Test

Marbury v. Madison

Decision:Ruled the Judiciary Act of 1789

unconstitutional

Constitutional Issue:Established judicial review

McCulloch v. Maryland

DecisionRuled 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 IssueExplained the Necessary & Proper clause

(“Elastic Clause” giving Congress “ Implied Powers”)

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

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 IssueDue process clause of the Fourteenth

Amendment

U.S. v. O’Brien

DecisionDraft Card burning not protected symbolic

speech

Constitutional IssueFirst Amendment free speech

Emerson v. Board of Education

DecisionCourt upheld a New Jersey policy of

reimbursing parents of Catholic School students for the costs of busing their children to school

Constitutional IssueEstablishment clause of First Amendment

Engle v. Vitale

DecisionCourt ruled school-sanctioned prayer in

public schools unconstitutional

Constitutional IssueEstablishment clause of First Amendment

Abington School District v. Schempp

DecisionCourt struck down a Pennsylvania law

requiring the reading of a Bible passage at the beginning of each day

Constitutional IssueEstablishment clause of First Amendment

Lemon v. Kurtzman

DecisionCourt struck down a Pennsylvania law

reimbursing schools for textbooks and teachers salaries and established the Lemon test.

Constitutional IssueEstablishment clause of First Amendment

Lynch v. Donnelley

DecisionThe 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 IssueEstablishment clause of First Amendment

Wallace v. Jaffree

DecisionCourt overturned a state law setting aside

time for “voluntary prayer” in public schools

Constitutional IssueEstablishment clause of First Amendment

Edwards v. Aguillard

DecisionCourt ruled that Louisiana could not force

public schools that taught evolution to also teach creationism

Constitutional IssueEstablishment clause of First Amendment

Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens

DecisionThe 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 IssueEstablishment clause of First Amendment

Lee v. Weisman

DecisionThe Court ruled against clergy-led prayer

at high school graduations ceremonies

Constitutional IssueEstablishment clause of First Amendment

Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe

DecisionThe Court overruled a Texas law allowing

high school students to read a prayer at athletic events such as a football game

Constitutional IssueEstablishment clause of First Amendment

Reynolds v. United States

DecisionThe Court upheld the federal law that

prohibited polygamy even though Reynolds, a Mormon from Utah, claimed it limited his religious freedom.

Constitutional IssueFree exercise clause of the First

Amendment

Wisconsin v. Yoder

DecisionThe 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 IssueFree exercise clause of the First

Amendment

Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith

DecisionThe Court ruled that Oregon could deny

unemployment benefits to workers fired for using drugs (peyote) as part of a religious ceremony.

Constitutional IssueFree exercise clause of the First

Amendment

Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of

HialeahDecisionCourt ruled that laws banning animal

sacrafice were unconstitutional because they targeted the Santeria religion.

Constitutional IssueFree exercise clause of the First

Amendment

Schenk v. United States

DecisionCourt 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 IssueFree speech of the First Amendment

Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire

DecisionThe Court ruled that the first amendment

did not protect “fighting words”

Constitutional IssueFree speech of the First Amendment

Tinker v. Des Moines

DecisionThe Court ruled that wearing black

armbands in protest of the Vietnam War was “pure speech” or symbolic speech, protected by the First Amendment

Constitutional IssueFree speech of the First Amendment

Brandenburg v. Ohio

DecisionThe Court made the “clear and present

danger” test less restrictive

Constitutional IssueFree speech of the First Amendment

Miller v. California

DecisionThe Court established the Miller test, which

sets the standards for measuring obsenity

Constitutional IssueFree speech of the First Amendment

Texas v. Johnson

DecisionThe Court ruled that flag burning is a

protected form of symbolic speech

Constitutional IssueFree speech of the First Amendment

Reno v. ACLU

DecisionThe Court ruled the Communications

Decency Act unconstitutional because it was “overly broad and vague” in regulating internet speech

Constitutional IssueFree speech of the First Amendment

Near v. Minnesota

DecisionThe Court applied the protections of free

press to the states under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and prohibited prior restraint

Constitutional IssueFree press of the First Amendment

New York Times v. Sullivan

DecisionThe Court protected statements about

public officials

Constitutional IssueFree speech of the First Amendment

New York Times v. United States

DecisionThe Court reaffirmed its position of prior

restraint, refusing to stop the publication of the Pentagon Papers

Constitutional IssueFree speech of the First Amendment

Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier

DecisionThe Court ruled in favor of school district

censorship of student newspapers as long as censorship is related to legitimate concerns

Constitutional IssueFree speech of the First Amendment

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

Griswold v. Connecticut

DecisionThe Court upheld that the Constitution

created “zones of privacy” and enhanced the concept of enumerated rights of the Ninth Amendment

Constitutional IssueRight to privacy

Roe v. Wade

DecisionThe outcome was a continuation of the

recognition of a constitutional right of privacy for a woman to determine whether to terminate a pregnancy

Constitutional IssueRight to privacy

Wolf v. Colorado

DecisionThe Court applied protections against

unreasonable search and seizure to the states under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

Constitutional IssueFourth Amendment: Search and seizure

Mapp v. Ohio

DecisionThe Court ruled that evidence obtained

without a search warrant was excluded from trial in state courts

Constitutional IssueFourth Amendment: Search and seizure

Terry v. Ohio

DecisionThe Court ruled that searches of criminal

suspects are constitutional and police may search suspects for safety purposes

Constitutional IssueFourth Amendment: Search and seizure

Nix v. Williams

DecisionThe 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 IssueFourth Amendment: Search and seizure

United States v. Leon

DecisionThe Court established the good faith

exception to the exclusionary rule

Constitutional IssueFourth Amendment: Search and seizure

Miranda v. Arizona

DecisionThe 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 IssueFifth Amendment: Self-Incrimination

Powell v. Alabama

DecisionThe Court established that the due process

clause of the fourteenth Amendment guarantees defendants in death penalty cases the right to an attorney

Constitutional IssueSixth Amendment: Right to an Attorney

Betts v. Brady

DecisionThe Court ruled that poor defendants in

non-capital cases are not entitled to an attorney at government expense

Constitutional IssueFourth Amendment: Search and seizure

Gideon v. Wainwright

DecisionThe Court ruled that in state trials, those

who cannot afford an attorney will have one provided by the state, overturning Betts v. Brady

Constitutional IssueFourth Amendment: Search and seizure

Furman v. Georgia

DecisionThe Court ruled the death penalty

unconstitutional under existing state law because it was imposed arbitrarily

Constitutional IssueEighth Amendment: Cruel and Unusual

Punishments

Gregg v. Georgia

Decision In this case, the death penalty was

constitutional because it was imposed based upon the circumstances of the case

Constitutional IssueEighth Amendment: Cruel and Unusual

Punishments

Plessy v. Ferguson

DecisionThe 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 IssueFourteenth Amendment

Brown v. Topeka Board of Education

DecisionOverturned the Plessy decision, ruling

separate but equal is unconstitutional

Constitutional IssueFourteenth Amendment

Brown v. Topeka Board of Education II

DecisionCourt ordered the desegregation of

schools “with all deliberate speed”

Constitutional IssueFourteenth Amendment

Reed v. Reed

DecisionCourt ruled against a law which

discriminated against women

Constitutional IssueEqual protection clause of the Fourteenth

Amendment

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

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

Decision Ruled that the affirmative action quotas used by

the University of California in their admissions were constitutional, but that Bakke had been denied equal protection because the university used race as the sole criterion for admissions

Constitutional Issue Equal protection clause of the Fourteenth

Amendment

Hopwood v. Texas

DecisionCourt struck down the University of Texas

Law School’s admissions program, stating that race could not be used at all as a factor in admissions.

Constitutional IssueEqual protection clause of the Fourteenth

Amendment