Landmark Cases
What case established judicial review?
(What is Marbury v. Madison?)
What clause states that the Constitution is the “supreme law of the land”?
(What is the Supremacy Clause?)
What chief justice wrote the decision in Marbury v. Madison?
(Who is John Marshall?)
Who was the lone dissenter in Plessy v. Ferguson, arguing that the Constitution is “color-blind”?
(Who is Justice John Marshall Harlan?)
What legal theory says the Constitution should be interpreted based on its meaning at the time it was ratified?
(What is Originalism?)
What case ruled that Congress has implied powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause?
(What is McCulloch v. Maryland?)
What clause was at issue in McCulloch v. Maryland, supporting Congress’s implied powers?
(What is the Necessary and Proper Clause?)
What Supreme Court model argues that justices base decisions on personal ideology?
(What is the Attitudinal Model?)
In Lochner v. New York, what justice famously dissented, arguing that the Constitution is “not intended to embody a particular economic theory”?
(Who is Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.?)
What legal theory protects unenumerated rights under the Due Process Clause?
(What is Substantive Due Process?)
What case ruled that “separate but equal” segregation was constitutional?
(What is Plessy v. Ferguson?)
What clause overruled Dred Scott?
(What is the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment?)
What model suggests justices strategically consider how other political actors will respond to their rulings?
(What is the Strategic Model?)
In U.S. v. Carolene Products, what key part of the opinion suggested that laws affecting minority groups might require heightened judicial scrutiny?
(What is Footnote Four?)
What case first introduced the idea that courts may apply different levels of scrutiny to different laws?
(What is U.S. v. Carolene Products, Footnote Four?)
In Lochner v. New York, a maximum-hours law was struck down in the state of New York for bakers under what doctrine?
(What is liberty of contract?)
What clause did Plessy v. Ferguson fail to protect, later used in Brown v. Board?
(What is the Equal Protection Clause?)
Why did Marshall rule against Marbury instead of issuing a writ of mandamus?
(What is to avoid a confrontation with Jefferson while asserting judicial power.)
Plessy v. Ferguson upheld segregation, but Harlan’s dissent warned that the ruling would be as damaging as what infamous earlier case?
(What is Dred Scott v. Sandford?)
What legal concept did Marshall emphasize in McCulloch, saying Congress’s powers should be broad and flexible?
What famous legal principle was introduced in Footnote Four of U.S. v. Carolene Products that suggested courts might apply stricter scrutiny to laws affecting certain groups?
What is heightened judicial scrutiny for laws affecting discrete and insular minorities?
What clause is associated with selective incorporation, applying the Bill of Rights to the states?
(What is the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment?)
According to the Legal Model of judicial decision-making, what is the primary factor influencing how justices decide cases?
What are legal texts, precedents, and constitutional interpretation?
Unlike Holmes in Lochner, Justice Harlan dissented for a different reason. What was his argument for why the maximum-hours law for bakers should be upheld?
(What is “the law was a valid health and safety regulation under the state’s police power”?)
What is the difference between procedural and substantive due process?
(Procedural ensures fair legal procedures, while substantive protects fundamental rights.)