AP Gov

• US v Lopez


  Lopez, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on April 26, 1995, ruled (5–4) that the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 was unconstitutional because the U.S. Congress, in enacting the legislation, had exceeded its authority under the commerce clause of the Constitution.
• Baker v Carr


  Baker v. Carr (1962) is the U.S. Supreme Court case that held that federal courts could hear cases alleging that a state's drawing of electoral boundaries, i.e. redistricting, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.
• Shaw v Reno


  Using the Shaw v. Reno decision, the justices decided that using racial reasons for redistricting is unconstitutional. Since Georgia's General Assembly used "race for its own sake and not other districting principles," their actions were rendered unconstitutional.
• Engel v Vitale


  Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962) The state cannot hold prayers in public schools, even if it is not required and not tied to a particular religion. The state board of regents in New York wrote a voluntary prayer to Almighty God that was intended to open each school day.
• Wisconsin v Yoder


  Jonas Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972), is the case in which the United States Supreme Court found that Amish children could not be placed under compulsory education past 8th grade. The parents' fundamental right to freedom of religion was determined to outweigh the state's interest in educating their children.
• Tinker v Des Moines


  In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court's majority ruled that neither students nor teachers “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” The Court took the position that school officials could not prohibit only on the suspicion that the speech might disrupt the learning
• Schenk v US

  In Schenck v. United States, Charles Schenck was charged under the Espionage Act for mailing printed circulars critical of the military draft. The Defendant's criticism of the draft was not protected by the First Amendment because it created a clear and present danger to the enlistment and recruiting service of the US armed forces during a state of war.
• NY Times v US 


  Often referred to as the “Pentagon Papers” case, the landmark Supreme Court decision in New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971), defended the First Amendment right of free press against prior restraint by the government
• McDonald v Chicago


  City of Chicago. McDonald v. City of Chicago, case in which on June 28, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (5–4) that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,” applies to state and local governments as well as to the federal government.
• Gideon v Wainwright

  In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Gideon, guaranteeing the right to legal counsel for criminal defendants in federal and state courts. Following the decision, Gideon was given another trial with an appointed lawyer. Everyone should have a fair right to trial. 6th amendment incorporated.
• Brown v Board of Education 


  In this milestone decision, the Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. It signaled the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States, overruling the "separate but equal" principle set forth in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case
• Roe v Wade


  In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decided that the right to privacy implied in the 14th Amendment protected abortion as a fundamental right. However, the government retained the power to regulate or restrict abortion access depending on the stage of pregnancy
• 14th Amendment-key clauses


  No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws

  Citizenship Clause, Privileges or Immunities Clause, Due Process Clause, and Equal Protection Clause
• 1st Amendment:

  • Freedom of speech, religion, press, expression, and assembly
• 2nd Amendment:

  • Right to Bear Arms
• 3rd Amendment:

  • Protection against Quartering Soldiers
• 4th Amendment:

  • Protection against Search and Seizure
• 5th Amendment:

  • Protection against Eminent Domain
  • Protection against Double Jeopardy
  • Protection against Self Incrimination
  • Right to Due Process
  • Right to Grand Jury
• 6th Amendment:

  • Citizens have a series of rights in criminal trials, right to an attorney
• 7th Amendment:

  • Protects the right for citizens to have a jury trial in federal courts with civil cases
• 8th Amendment:

  • Protection against Excessive Fines
  • Protection against Cruel and Unusual Punishment
• 9th Amendment:

  • Protects unenumerated residual rights of the people
• 10th Amendment:

  • Powers not delegated to the United States are reserved to the states or the people
• Letter from Birmingham Jail


  King details the principles of nonviolent direct action, exposes readers to the conditions endured by Black Americans, and defends his belief in the supremacy of moral law over an unjust legal code.
• Redlining


  The practice of denying people access to credit be of where they live, even if they are personally qualified loans
• Civil Liberties v Civil Rights

  Civil Liberties

  •Protects citizens, opinions, and property against government interference

  •Rights of the people that the government can’t take away

  •Guaranteed in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the rest of the amendments, or through court interpretation

  •“DUE PROCESS”

  CIVIL RIGHTS:

  •Protect groups from discrimination

  •Come about as equal protection under the law.

  •“EQUAL PROTECTION"
• Affirmative Action


  A set of procedures designed to eliminate unlawful discrimination among applicants, results of prior discrimination and to prevent it in the future.
• Civil Rights Act of 1964


  In 1964, Congress passed Public Law 88-352 (78 Stat. 241). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing.
• Voting Rights of 1965


  The Voting Rights Act was enacted on August 6, 1965, and it prohibited states from imposing qualifications or practices to deny the right to vote on account of race; permitted direct federal intervention in the electoral process in certain places, based on a “coverage formula”; and required preclearance of new laws
• Title IX


  Title IX states: No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. Scope of Title IX.