Government Powers
Marbury v Madison
What is established the Court's power of judicial review
Tinker v. Des Moines
What is "symbolic speech" and basic civil rights of students (and teachers) did not end at the “schoolgates”
Miranda v. Arizona
What is suspects must be made aware of their constitutional rights to remain silent and have legal counsel
Gideon v. Wainwright
What is people accused of a crime must be provided legal counsel if they cannot afford it
Brown v. Board of Education
What is reversed the Plessy decision (which said "separate but equal" is OK); desegregation of schools and other public facilities
McCulloch v Maryland
What is confirmed the supremacy of federal law over the states
Texas v. Johnson
What is "freedom of expression," in this case the burning of the US flag as a protest is protected under 1st amendment
Engel v. Vitale
What is forced/required prayer is unconstitutional in public school
Mapp v. Ohio
What is evidence gained by the police through illegal search cannot be used in a trial, "fruit of the poison tree"
Roe v. Wade
What is right to privacy is part of the Constitution; under certain circumstances, a woman has the right to have an abortion, BUT at some point, the life of the fetus is equal to that of the mother and the state has a duty to protect it.
Overturned by Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
U.S. v. Nixon
What is President Nixon had to turn over the Watergate tapes to Congress; "executive privilege" did not protect the President from legal action if a felony had been committed; led to Nixon’s resignation
Bethel v. Fraser
“Vulgar or lewd" speech was not protected in school by the 1st amendment
Lemon v. Kurtzman
What is the "3-prong test" regarding the separation of church and state: 1)must have a specific non-religious purpose, 2) they must neither establish nor prohibit any religion, and 3) they must not allow the government to become too “entangled” with religion in order to carry them out.
Betts v. Brady
What is poor defendants do NOT have a right to an attorney in trials at the state level (later overturned by Gideon!)
Korematsu v. US
What is Japanese-Americans could be legally discriminated against (internment camps); "legalized racism"
New Jersey v. TLO
What is "reasonable suspicion" is a rule to apply to searches and seizures at school; school officials may search students and their property more easily than police can
What is Trump v. U.S. (2025)?
New York Times v. Sullivan
Public officials cannot sue for defamation of character unless they can prove that published information about them is false and was published maliciously (in other words, you can’t sue if it’s true)
In re Gault
What is juveniles accused of serious crimes must be extended the same rights as adults charged with the same crimes
Gregg v. Georgia
What is death penalty is NOT cruel and unusual punishment in all cases; death penalty only applied in cases of 1st degree murder; OVERTURNED by Furman
Removed a requirement created by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, specifically: states with a history of voting discrimination no longer need federal approval before changing voting laws/redistricting.
What is Shelby v. Holder?
Gibbons v. Ogden
What is confirmed that only Congress has power over interstate trade/commerce
Hazelwood v Kuhlmeier
What is school personnel CAN censor school/student publications because the paper/yearbook belongs to the school, not the students
New York Times vs. U.S.
What is "Pentagon Papers" about the war in Viet Nam COULD be published and the government had a heavy burden of proof when attempting to censor the press
Escobedo v. Illinois
What is hours just after arrest are the most crucial for a suspect to get advice of a lawyer
Furman v. Georgia
What is state death penalty laws violated 8th amendment (because they were being applied without proper instruction to juries and mostly to black men)
This overturned a previous case ;)
Bush v. Gore
What is a 2nd recount in Florida's elections for President was valid; the Court essentially chose the President