AP U.S G C S OV LANDMARK ASES UPREME C COURT ASES
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Case/Year
Topic/Issue
Supreme Court Decision
Marbury v. Madison
(1803)
Checks and
balances
Established the power of judicial review in finding that a congressional statute
extending the Court's original jurisdiction was unconstitutional (Marshall Court)
McCulloch v.
Maryland (1819)
Federalism
Allowed Congress to establish a national bank via its implied powers and stopped
Maryland from taxing the national bank as violation of Supremacy Clause
(Marshall Court)
Gibbons v. Ogden
(1824)
Federalism
Ferry boat case; only Congress is granted the power to regulate interstate
commerce by the Commerce Clause of the Constitution (Marshall Court)
Dred Scott v. Sanford
(1857)
Federalism,
slavery
Ruled slaves were not citizens under the Constitution; struck down Missouri
Compromise (Taney Court)
Reynolds v. United
States (1879
1st Amend –
Religion
Upheld federal ban on polygamy because it is not protected by the free exercise
clause; government can punish criminal activity without regard to religious belief
(Waite Court)
Plessy v. Ferguson
(1896)
Federalism,
segregation
Upheld state-imposed racial segregation; "separate but equal" doctrine (Fuller
Court)
Schenck v. United
States (1919)
1st Amend –
Speech
Upheld the Espionage Act; declared that 1st Amendment right to freedom of
speech was not absolute; free speech could be limited if its exercise presented a
"clear and present danger" (White Court)
Gitlow v. New York
(1925)
Federalism,
1st Amend
Established the selective incorporation of the Bill of rights (a.k.a. incorporation
doctrine) through the 14th amendment; Bill of Rights can limit the states as well as
the federal government (Taft Court)
W.Va. Board of
Education v. Barnett
(1943)
1st Amend –
Speech,
Religion
Ruled public school children (Jehovah's witnesses) cannot be compelled to salute
the flag or recite the Pledge; violates 1st Amendment freedom of speech (Stone
Court)
Korematsu v. United
States (1944)
Rights of the
Accused
Upheld the U.S. government's decision to put Japanese Americans in internment -
camps during World War II due to a clear and present danger (Stone Court)
Brown v. Board of
Education (1954)
Civil Rights
School segregation unconstitutional; segregation psychologically damaging to
blacks; overturned separate but equal; use of 14th Amendment (Warren Court)
Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
Rights of the
Accused
Established the exclusionary rule; illegally obtained evidence cannot be used in
court (Warren Court)
Baker v. Carr (1962)
Voting rights,
apportionment
Court set aside "political question" doctrine and ruled that it can decide a voting
rights question; first important voting rights case (Warren Court)
Engel v. Vitale (1962)
1st Amend –
Religion
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)
Abington School
District v. Schempp
(1963)
1st Amend –
Religion
Prohibited school-sponsored devotional Bible reading in public schools because it
violated the establishment clause and due process clause (Warren Court)
Gideon v. Wainwright
(1963)
Rights of the
Accused
Extended to the defendant the right of counsel in all state and federal criminal
trials regardless of their ability to pay (Warren Court)
Wesberry v. Sanders
(1963)
Voting rights,
apportionment
Established "one man, one vote;" ordered House districts to be as near equal in
population as possible during reapportionment process (Warren Court)
Heart of Atlanta Motel
v. United States
(1964)
Civil Rights
Upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Congress can ban segregation in public
accommodations via the commerce clause (Warren Court)
New York Times v.
Sullivan (1964)
1st Amend –
Press
Ruled the 1st Amendment protects even false statements about public figures
unless they can prove statements were made with malice and disregard for the
truth (Warren Court)
Griswold v.
Connecticut (1965)
Right to
Privacy
Established right of privacy for married couples using birth control through 4th
and 9th Amendments; set privacy precedent for Roe v. Wade (Warren Court)
Miranda v. Arizona
(1966)
Rights of the
Accused
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; established
Miranda warnings of counsel and silence (Warren Court)
Loving v. Virginia
(1967)
Civil Rights
Struck down state's law banning interracial marriage as violation of the 14th
Amendment equal protection clause (Warren Court)
Brandenburg v. Ohio
(1969)
1st Amend –
Speech
1st and 14th Amendments protected speech advocating violence at KKK rally
unless it calls for "imminent lawless action (Warren Court)
Tinker v. Des Moines
(1969)
1st Amend -
Speech
Upheld student's speech rights; wearing black arm bands in protest of Vietnam
War is protected symbolic speech under the 1st Amendment (Warren Court)
Lemon v. Kurtzman
(1971)
1st Amend –
Religion
Established the "Lemon Test" to determine if a government law or action is
constitutional under the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment: 1) the law
must have a legitimate secular purpose, 2) must neither advance nor inhibit
religion, 3) and must not result in an excessive entanglement of government and
religion (Burger Court)
New York Times v.
United States (1971)
1st Amend –
Press
"Pentagon Papers;" government must prove actual harm to national security if it
seeks prior restraint to censor the press (Burger Court)
Roe v. Wade (1973)
Right to
privacy
Abortion rights fall within the privacy implied in the 14th amendment; women
have total autonomy over pregnancy in the first trimester (Burger Court)
United States v. Nixon
(1974)
Checks and
balances
The President has no absolute constitutional executive privilege to refuse to
comply with a court order to produce information needed in a criminal trial
(Burger Court)
Buckley v. Valeo
(1976)
Campaign
finance, 1st
Amendment
1st Amendment protects campaign spending; legislatures can limit contributions,
but candidates can spend an unlimited amount of their own or family's money in
campaigns (Burger Court)
Gregg v. Georgia
(1976)
Rights of the
accused
Death penalty is not "cruel and unusual punishment" in cases of murder (Burger
Court)
Regents of the
University of
California v. Bakke
(1978)
Affirmative
action
Upheld affirmative action, but ruled that racial quotas in college admissions are
unconstitutional because they violate the equal protection clause of the 14th
amendment (Burger Court)
Texas v. Johnson
(1989)
1st Amend –
Speech
Flag-burning is symbolic speech with a political purpose and is protected by 1st
Amendment (Rehnquist Court)
Oregon Employment
Division v. Smith
(1990)
1st Amend –
Religion
The state could deny unemployment benefits to a person fired for violating a state
prohibition on the use of peyote, even though the use of the drug was part of a
religious ritual (Rehnquist Court)
Planned Parenthood v.
Casey (1992)
Abortion
rights
Struck down law requiring spousal notification prior to obtaining an abortion ; law
invalid under the 14th Amendment because it created an undue burden on married
women seeking an abortion; upheld requirements for parental consent, informed
consent, and 24-hour waiting period were constitutionally valid regulations
(Rehnquist Court)
United States v. Lopez
(1995)
Federalism
Gun Free School Zones Act exceeded Congress' authority to regulate interstate
commerce; important federalism case (Rehnquist Court)
Bush v. Gore (2000)
Political
Process
Resolved 2000 presidential election by halting the Florida vote recount (Rehnquist
Court)
Gratz v. Bollinger
(2003)
Affirmative
Action
Struck down use of "bonus points" for race in undergraduate admissions at
University of Michigan (Rehnquist Court)
Lawrence v. Texas
(2003)
Gay rights
Struck down state statute making same sex intercourse (sodomy) illegal because
the law violates the due process clause of the 14 Amendment (Rehnquist Court)
District of Columbia
v. Heller (2008)
2nd Amend –
gun rights
Ruled the 2nd Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm for
lawful, private use (Roberts Court)
Citizens United v.
Federal Elections
Commission (2010)
Campaign
finance, 1st
Amendment
Ruled that corporations and unions cannot be banned from spending money on a
political campaign under the 1st Amendment; corporations and unions have the
same free speech rights as individuals (Roberts Court)
National Federation of
Independent Business
v. Sebelius (2012)
Federalism
Upheld most of the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") including individual
mandate under Congress's taxing power (Roberts Court)
Shelby County v.
Holder (2013)
Voting rights
Struck down provision of Voting Rights Act of 1965 requiring states engaged in
past discrimination to get federal preclearance before instituting changes in voting
laws or practices; allowed restrictive state voter ID laws to go forward (Roberts
Court)
United States v.
Windsor (2013)
Gay rights
Struck down the federal Defense of Marriage of Marriage Act's (DOMA)
restrictions of marriage rights to only heterosexual couples as unconstitutional
violation of the 5th amendment due process clause; same sex married couples now
receive federal benefits (Roberts Court)
