American Government: Key Supreme Court Cases Page 1

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; "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; 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 - it is protected through 14th Amendment. Palko v. Connecticut 1937 Provided test for determining which parts of Bill of Rights should be federalized - those which are explicitly or implicitly necessary for liberty to exist.

Korematsu v. U S 1944 Korematsu was a Japanese American who felt that his 14 Amend. right to equal protection under the law, and his Fifth Amendment right to life, liberty, and property were violated when an executive order put him in an internment camp. The court ruled that the President and Congress had the right to label the Japanese as a suspect class because the issues concerning national security were compelling. Brown v. Board 1954 School segregation unconst.; seg. psych. damaging to blacks;overturned separate but equal doctrine of Plessy; Warren Court's judicial activism; unanimous decision.

1955 Ordered schools to desegregate "with all due and deliberate speed." Mapp v. Ohio 1961 Estab. exclusionary rule: illegally obtained evidence cannot be used in court - it is "excluded;" Warren Court's judicial activism. Engel v. Vitale 1962 Prohibited state-sponsored recitation of prayer in public schools by virtue of Amendment 1's ; Warren Court's judicial activism. Baker v. Carr 1962 "One man, one vote;" ordered state legislative districts to be as near equal in population as possible; Warren Court's political judicial activism. Abbington v. Schempp 1963 Prohibited devotional Bible-reading in public schools by virtue of Amendment 1's establishment clause; Warren Court's judicial activism. Gideon v. Wainright 1963 Ordered states to provide lawyers for those unable to afford them; Warren Court's judicial activism in area of criminal rights. Wesberry v. Sanders 1963 Ordered districts to be as near equal in population as possible. Escobedo v. Illinois 1964 Exclusionary rule to include a confession - You have the right to remain silent Griswald v. Connecticut 1965 Established right of privacy through 4th & 9 th Amendments. Miranda v. Arizona 1966 Anyone placed under arrest must be informed of the right to remain silent and to have counsel present during interrogation In re Gault 1967 Juveniles granted most rights of due process Epperson v. Arkansas 1968 Prohibited states from banning the teaching of evolution American Government: Key Supreme Court Cases Page 2

Tinker v. Des Moines 1969 Symbolic speech applies to students (black arm bands) Lemon v. Kurtzman 1971 Estab. 3-part test to determine if establishment clause is violated: 1) nonsecular (religious) purpose, 2) advances or inhibits religion,3) excessive entanglement with govt New York Times v. U.S. 1971 The pentagon papers case- Court refuses to impose a on the publication of the papers even if publication would embarrass government, it would not endanger national security. In 1971 two men stole the Pentagon Papers, a 47-volume study on Vietnam Policy. These studies were given to The Washington Post and The New York Times, which published daily articles with excerpts. The federal government filed a suit against them, and the case to the Supreme Court. The judges ruled in favor of the 1st Amendment, stating that the national government must justify any abridgement of the newspaper’s freedom of speech Furman v. Georgia 1972 Death penalty must be applied equally Roe v. Wade 1973 Established national abortion guidelines; trimester system: 1st trimester: no state interference, 2nd trimester: state may regulate to protect health of mother, 3rd trimester: state may regulate to protect health of unborn child.

U.S. v. Nixon 1974 Allowed for executive privilege, but not when criminal case involved; "Even the president is not above the law;" Watergate. Lau v. Nichols 1974 States must provide bilingual education or some type of support for students whose native language is not English. Gregg v. Georgia 1976 Reaffirmed the constitutionality of the death penalty in the wake of Furman v. Georgia (1972). The Court rejected claims that capital punishment was unconstitutional. Regents of the University of 1978 Alan Bakke and U.C. Davis Med School; strict quotas unconst, but California v. Bakke states may allow race to be taken into account as ONE factor for admission decisions; Bakke admitted. New Jersey v. TLO 1984 Reasonable suspicion rule for school searches (probable cause otherwise) Bethel v. Fraser 1986 Schools may place limits on lewd or obscene speech (school standards) Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier 1988 School sponsored activities are not protected under 1 st Amend. (Principal had the right to censor school newspaper) Texas v. Johnson 1989 Flag burning as symbolic speech permissible, if it has a political purpose Planned Parenthood v. Casey 1992 States can regulate abortion, but not with regulations that impose an "undue burden" upon women, did not overturn Roe v. Wade, but gave states more leeway in regulating abortion (e.g., allows a 24-hour waiting period, parental consent for minors). Miller v. Johnson 1995 Struck down racial gerrymandering: race cannot be a predominant factor in drawing district lines. Bush v. Gore Reversed an order by the Florida Supreme Court to recount ballots in the 2000 election. Majority of the Supreme Justices stopped the recount saying that the time for selecting electors had expired December 12.