Competency 4 landmark cases

• Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

  • the case that ruled that slaves were property and could not sue
  • Violated the 5th amendment
  • Helped bring the Civil War
  • “ The constitution doest not consider slaves to be United states citizen “
• Mapp v. Ohio (1961) - Illegally Obtained Evidence is Inadmissible in State Courts
• Baker v. Carr (1962) - The court ruled that the 14th amendment applies to the states.
• Engel v. Vitale: (1962) School-Sponsored Prayer is Unconstitutional
• Marbury v. Madison: (1803) The Supreme Court ruled that the Judicial Branch could not declare a law unconstitutional.
• McCulloch v. Maryland: (1819) The 1819 case that established the principle that the Constitution does not grant Congress the power to create a national bank
• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) - indigent defendants have the right to counsel/ to have a lawyer
• Miranda v. Arizona (1966) - The Fifth Amendment guarantees protection from self-incrimination, even during police interrogation.
• • Korematsu v. United States (1944) - The Supreme Court ruled that the exclusion of Japanese Americans during ww2 from the West Coast was constitutional.

• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) - The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.- The Supreme Court ruled that segregation of the races in public facilities was constitutional.
• Tinker v. Des Moines: (1969) Students Have Free Speech Rights in Public Schools
• New York Times v. United States: (1971) The Supreme Court ruled that the government cannot seize newspapers without a warrant.
• Schenck v. U.S. (1919) - Free Speech is Not Absolute in Times of War
• Wisconsin v. Yoder: (1972) Religious freedom, the right to live according to one's faith, is protected by the First Amendment.
• Roe v. Wade (1973) - legalized abortion in the US
• United States v. Nixon: (1974) The Supreme Court ruled that the president cannot obstruct justice. The U.S Supreme Court that limited executive privileg. “ Neither separation of powers, nor the need for confidentiality can sustain unqualified executive presidential immunity from the judicial proces.”
• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)

  • Violated the 14th amendment ( equal protection)
  • A state university could not admit less qualified individuals solely because their race
• Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988)

  School newspapers can be censored by teachers and administrator. - The journalism students felt that this censorship was a direct violation of their 1st amendment rights. The Supreme Court decided that the principal had the right to such editorial decision, as be had “legitimate pedagogical concerns“
• Shaw v. Reno: (1993)


  The Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment applies to the states.

  • they rules on the legality of racial gerrymandering ( manipulatio/ so as to favor)
  • the justice decided that using racial reasons for redistricting is unconstitutional
• U.S v. Lopez (1995)

  • The federal gun- free School zones Act of 1990 was unconstitutional because the U.S congress had exceeded its authority under the commerce clause of constitution
  • Gun possession it’s not an economic activity that has any impact on interstate commerce, so the Federal government can’t base a law prohibiting gun possession near school on the commerce clause
• Bush v. Gore (2000) 


  the Supreme Court ruled that the Florida Supreme Court's decision to stop the recount was unconstitutional

  • Despite violating the 14th amendment by using disparate vote-counting procedures in different counties
  • 5 justices agreed that there was an Equal Protection Clause violation in using differing standards of a valid vote in different counties, causing a “ unequal evaluation of ballots in various respects
• District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)


  The most important case related to gun rights and the 2 amendment

  • Amendment includes the right to bear arms for self defense
  • held that the 2nd amendment guarantees an individua right to possess firearms independent of service in a state militia and to use firearms for traditional lawful purposes including self defense within home
• Texas v. Johnson (1989) 


  .a divided Supreme Court held that burning the flag was protected expression under the First Amendment.
• McDonald v. Chicago (2010)


  incorporated the 2nd Amendment to the states, and does not allow states to infringe( take away their right/ limit their freedom) on a person‘s right to bear arms
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) 


  The Supreme Court ruled that corporations have the same rights as individuals to spend money on political campaigns Under the 1st amendment
• brown v. board of education: (1954)

  desegregation of public schools