Supreme Court Cases – AP Government

Sources for researching cases:

  • Landmark Cases:
  • Touro Law:
  • Cornell University Law School:
  • Oyez:
  • When all else fails, google the case…

Federalism Cases / Facts of the Case / Court’s Ruling (Decision) / Basis for Ruling (Decision)
*Fletcher v. Peck (1810) /
  • 1795: Georgia passes a land grant act, giving land to four companies
  • 1796: Georgia voided the law; claimed all rights and lands awarded to be invalid
  • John Peck received land from this grant and sold some of it to Robert Fletcher
  • Fletcher sued Peck for breach of contract, claiming Peck did not have legal title to the land when he sold it
/
  • Declares Georgia law (the one invalidating the land grant act) unconstitutional
  • Land had been legally passed into the hands of the purchaser
  • Land cannot be taken back
  • Contract cannot be invalidated
/
  • Georgia’s act violated the ex post facto clause of the U.S. Constitution

*McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
*Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
*National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel (1937)

*Heart of Atlanta Motel v. US (1964)

Katzenbach v. McClung (1964)
South Dakota v. Dole (1987)

*United States v. Lopez (1995)

*Printz v. United States (1997)

*United States v. Morrison (2000)

Elections and the Media

Smith v. Allwright (1944)
*Buckley v. Valeo(1976)
Bush v. Gore (2000)
Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (2010)

Congress

*Baker v. Carr (1962)
Wesberry v. Sanders 1964
*Shaw v. Reno (1993)
US Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton (1995)
Powell v. McCormack (1969)

Sims v. Reynolds (1964)

The Presidency

*Clinton v. New York City (1998)
*United States v. Nixon (1973)
Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha (1983)

The Judiciary

*Marbury v. Madison (1803)
*McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
*Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
*Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
Incorporation
Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
*Gitlow v. New York (1925)
Near v. Minnesota (1931)
Palko v. Connecticut (1937)
*Everson v. Board of Education (1942)
Freedom of Religion
*Everson v. Board of Education (1942)
Engel v. Vitale (1962)
*Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)
Westside Community Schools v. Mergens (1990)
Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000)

Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002)

Ten Commandments cases: McCreary County, KY v. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky and Van Orden v. Perry (2005)

Freedom of Speech and Press
*Schenck v. United States (1919)
*Gitlow v. New York (1925)
*Near v. Minnesota (1931)
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)
*Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)
New York Times Co. v. U.S. (1971)
Miller v. California (1973)
Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser (1986)
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
Reno v. ACLU (1997)

Freedom of Assembly and Petition

*NAACP v. Alabama (1958)

Boy Scouts of American v. Dale (2000)

Due Process and the Rights of the Accused

*Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
*Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
*Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
Furman v. Georgia (1972)
Gregg v. Georgia(1976)
New Jersey v. T.L.O (1985)
Equal Protection of the Laws – Minorities
Civil Rights Cases (1883)
*Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
*Korematsu v. United States (1944)
*Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
*Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) and Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)
Equal Protection of the Laws – Women
*Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
Reed v. Reed (1971)
*Roe v. Wade (1973)
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)
Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)
Right to Die
Cruzan v. Missouri (1990)

Case Due Dates:

3/16: Federalism & Judiciary Cases

3/23: Incorporation & Freedom of Religion Cases

4/6: Freedom of Speech and Press, Freedom of Assembly & Petition Cases

4/13: Due Process, Equal Protection (both minorities and women), Right to Die Cases

4/20: Elections and Media, Congress, and Presidency Cases

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