Landmark Court Cases
Court case in 1803 that established the principle of judicial review.
What is Marbury v. Madison?
The 5th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution state that “no person may be deprived of life, liberty, or property without _________.”
What is due process of the law?
In Federalist 10, it's argued that a strong, large republic would defend the country against these.
What are factions?
In this case, the New York Board of Regents had authorized that at the beginning of each day, a short but voluntary prayer would be recited. Several organizations filed suit against the Board of Regents, claiming that the prayer violated the Constitution. The New York Court of Appeals dismissed their arguments.
What is Engel v. Vitale?
This first Constitution was for a collection of states and did not allow the federal government to tax states or regulate interstate commerce
What is the Articles of Confederation?
The Court held in this case that “separate but equal is inherently unequal,” and therefore racial segregation of public schools is unconstitutional. The segregated schools allowed by the previous Plessy case were declared unconstitutional.
What is Brown v. Board of Education?
The principle “equal justice under the law” is based on this amendment.
What is the 14th Amendment?
In this case, the applicability of the Second Amendment to the states was argued, and if the 2nd Amendment’s right to bear arms (interpreted as an individual right) also applied to the states
What is McDonald v. Chicago?
In this case, a group of students decided to wear black armbands in order to protest the Vietnam War. After wearing the armbands to school, they were sent home. The students decided to sue their school district for violating the freedom of expression.
What is Tinker v. Des Moines?
The Declaration of Independence establishes these 3 ideas as the basis of our government.
What are natural rights, popular sovereignty, and the social contract?
Court case in 1973 that held that the Constitution protected a woman's right to an abortion prior to the viability of the fetus.
What is Roe v. Wade?
In this case, it was argued that apportionment for Tennessee’s General Assembly had been ignored, and stated that reapportionment did not take into account the significant change that the state had gone through.
Number of supreme court justices
What is 9?
This case relates to the other major religious clause of the 1st Amendment: the free exercise clause. By requiring parents to send their children to school, without a faith exception, did it violate the parents' rights to freely exercise their religion?
What is Wisconsin v. Yoder?
This foundational document argues a government broken into three branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. Each branch should be self-sufficient, but each should have some kind of power over the other in order for them to keep each other from taking over the government.
What is Federalist 51?
Court case in 1819 that enforced the supremacy clause after it was deemed necessary and proper to create a federal bank.
What is McCulloch v. Maryland?
The constitutional issue in this case was whether racial gerrymandering took place with this district (it was very narrow) and if the district raised an Equal Protection Clause question.
What is Shaw v. Reno?
The constitutional issue in this case involved the Sixth Amendment and whether the right to counsel guaranteed in this amendment also applied to felony defendants in state court.
What is Gideon v. Wainwright?
This case examined whether the Espionage Act violated the First Amendment and if it was an appropriate way that Congress exercised its wartime authority.
What is Schenck v. US?
This essay argues that unity in the executive branch is a main ingredient for both energy and safety. Energy arises from the proceedings of a single person, characterized by, "decision, activity, secrecy, and dispatch," while safety arises from the unitary executive's unconcealed accountability to the people.
The holding in this case was that corporations should be considered people and therefore their funding of “independent political expenditures cannot be limited.” This is considered a form of political speech, which is protected by the free speech portion of the First Amendment.
What is Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission?
This foundational document states that as “the weakest of the three departments of power,” the Judiciary needs strengthening. Without an independent judiciary, any rights reserved to the people by the Constitution “would amount to nothing,” since the legislature cannot be relied upon to police itself.
What is Federalist 78?
This essay argues against the proposed large size of federal government, as well as for a Bill of Rights
What is Brutus 1?
This case examined whether the Nixon administration’s prior restraint was constitutional and if preventing the publication of “classified material” was a violation of the First Amendment’s freedom of the press.
What is New York Times Co. v. US?
MLK argues that the ideals set forth by the Founding Fathers are not being applied to all citizens, with Constitutional backing from this part of the 14th Amendment.
What is the Equal Protection Clause?