S.C Cases
Roe v. Wade (1973)
Legalized abortion on the basis of a woman's right to privacy
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
Defined the scope of the U.S Congress's legislative power and how it relates to the powers of American state legislatures.
Shaw v. Reno
No racial gerrymandering: race cannot be the sole or predominant factor in redrawing legislative boundaries: majority-minority districts.
Brutus No. 1
Argued that federal power was bad and that The Constitution gives too much power to the federal government.
Bill of Rights
Series of amendments of the Constitution that guarantees individual freedoms and due process
Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)
Students in Iowa were suspended for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. Ruled that this suspension was unconstitutional, and that public school students do not "shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse door"
Engel v. Vitale (1962)
The Supreme Court decision that state officials violated the First Amendment when they wrote a prayer to be recited by New York's Schoolchildren.
Baker v. Carr (1962)
One man, one vote. This decision created guidelines for drawing up congressional districts and guaranteed a more equitable system of representation to the citizens of each state.
Federalist Paper No. 10
Defended the form of republican government proposed by the Constitution. Critics of the Constitution argued that the proposed federal government was too large and would be unresponsive to the people, in response, Madison explored majority rule v. minority rights in this essay.
Federalist Paper No. 51
Addresses means by which appropriate checks and balances can be created in government and also advocates a separation of powers within the national government.
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
NY Times v. United States (1971)
The President argues that the publication of the Pentagon Papers is in violation of executive privilege. Result: the barring of the publication of these papers is in violation of the 1st. A. Publication does not imperial the public.
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
Amish children do not have to go to school until they are 16. They may stop after 8th grade
Federalist Paper No. 70
Argues in favor of the unitary executive created by Article II of the United States Constitution.
Federalist Paper no. 78
It argues that the federal courts have the job determining whether acts of Congress are constitutional and what must be done if government is faced with the things that are done on the contrary of the constitution.
United States v. Lopez (1995)
The commerce clause of the constitution does not give congress the power to prohibit mere possession of a gun near a school, because gun possession by itself is not an economic activity that affects interstate commerce even indirectly.
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)
Individuals, corporations, and unions could donate unlimited amounts of money to groups that make independent political expenditures.
McDonald v. Chicago
States cannot ban guns due to the right to bear arm and equal protection of the law.
The Constitution
The founding document, originally compromising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government
Letter From Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote wrote this letter in response to criticism of the nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama in April 1963. Beyond that, he argues that he is in Birmingham "because injustice is here", and the Apostle Paul and other Christians, he must answer the call for aid.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
The Supreme Court overrules Plessy v. Ferguson, declared that racially segregated facilities are inherently unequal and ordered all public schools desegregated.
Schenck v. United States (1919)
Freedom of speech protection afforded in the U.S Consitution's First Amendment could be restricted if the words spoken or printed represented to society a "clear and present danger."
Declaration of Independence
Document that was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and that announced the separation of 13 North American British Colonies from Great Britain
The Articles oof Confederation