LANDMARK SUPREME COURT CASES
NAME AND DATE OF CASE / BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF CASE / QUESTIONS-PART OF CONST. / OUTCOME OF CASE/SIGNIFICANCE
Marbury v. Madison / PRESIDENT JOHN ADAMS APPOINTS PEOPLE TO HIGH POSITIONS
THEN LEAVES OFFICE HOURS LATER.
Jefferson refuses to appoint them. / Presidential power ---- checks and balances – gave Supreme Court power. / JUDICIAL REVIEW (where the Supreme Court can declare laws unconstitutional).
Gave USSC POWER
Plessy v. Ferguson
1896 / African Americans could be provided “separate but equal” public facilities. SEGREGATION IS OK. / 14TH / ALLOWS SEGREGATION that is sep but =
LOL!!!
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
1954 / Overturned Plessy by saying you can never have “separate but equal”.
Ends segregation in and on public grounds and begins integration in schools. / 14TH / ENDS SCHOOL SEGREGATION
NC STATE CASE
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Ed / 1965 BUSING. SEGREGATION.
VERY IMPORTANT NC STATE CASE
Dealt with “Bus Segregation” / 1 / FEDERAL COURTS CAN TELL STATES TO END SEGREGATION…
Was no real SEGREGATION
Gibbons v. Ogden / Gibbons owned a ferry operation with a federal license, and Ogden had a NY license to do the same thing. Ogden tried to shut down the Gibbons ferry, and Gibbons sued to the Supreme Court. / Article I, section 8 – “the commerce clause”. AND Supremacy Clause / Gibbons wins – The Supreme Court said the NATIONAL GOVERNMENT REGULATES INTERSTATE COMMERCE/Supremacy
Korematsu v. US / Japanese internment camps during WWII. / WAR POWERS, 14TH / ALLOWS FOR JAPANESE AMERICAN INTERNMENT CAMPS.
Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. US
1964. / HOTEL REFUSED TO serve AFRICAN AMERICANS. / 14TH and Civil Rights Act of 1964 / SUPREME COURT SAID THEY HAD TO ACCEPT ALL CITIZENS -- all public facilities had to accept all citizens. 9-0
Furman v. Georgia / GUN GOES OFF WHEN DROPPED, KILLING PERSON. Furman gets death penalty. / 8TH,14th
Death penalty / DEATH PENALTY CAN BE CRUEL AND UNUSUAL IN CERTAIN CASES.
Gregg v. Georgia / Gregg kills two people in a robbery. Is the death penalty cruel and unusual in all cases? / 8TH / DEATH PENALTY IN ITSELF IS NOT CRUEL AND UNUSUAL.
Gideon v. Wainwright / POOR GUY DIDN’T HAVE LAWYER AND WAS FOUND GUILTY. / 6TH, Was retried with an attorney and found innocent. / EVERYONE HAS A RIGHT TO A LAWYER – EVEN POOR PEOPLE.
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke / Bakke (white guy) applies to college and is denied admission. He suits claiming discrimination because several African Americans with lower test scores are accepted. / 14th, Civil Rights act of 1964. / AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IS OK, BUT NO QUOTAS
New Jersey v. T.L.O. / T.L.O. was a 14-year-old girl who was accused of smoking in the girls room at her high school. A principal then questioned her and searched her purse, yielding marijuana and other drug items plus a list of buyers. / Did the search violate the 4th and 14th amendments? / No. STUDENTS CAN BE SEARCHED WITHOUT PROBABLE CAUSE ON SCHOOL GROUNDS.
Bethel School District v. Frasier / Student gives speech to 11-14 yr olds with sexual innuendo. / 1st amendment / SCHOOLS MAY PROHIBIT VULGAR AND OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE.
Tinker v. Des Moines / Students wear black arm bands to protest the Vietnam war. / 1st amendment / STUDENTS MAY WEAR ARMBANDS TO PROTEST .
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier / Students publish articles about teen pregnancy and divorced parents in the student newspaper. / 1st amendment / PRINCIPALS HAVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT / CENSOR STUDENT SPEECH.
Texas v. Johnson / Johnson burns a flag in protest . / 1st amendment. / FLAG BURNING IS LEGAL
Miranda v. Arizona / Ernesto Miranda arrested for kidnapping and rape – found guilty after signed confession. Police admitted that Miranda had not been advised of his right to an attorney during questioning. / 5TH AMENDMENT – DUE PROCESS / Miranda wins. A PERSON MUST BE READ HIS RIGHTS WHILE BEING ARRESTED.
Mapp v. Ohio / Police search a house without a search warrant, and find pornographic materials even though they were looking for a fugitive. Is this evidence admissible in court? / 4TH AMENDMENT / No. NEED A SEARCH WARRANT OR EVIDENCE CANNOT BE USED!
Dred Scott v. Sandford / Dred Scott a slave -- his owner dies in a free state. Dred then sues the Supreme Court for his freedom. / Missouri Compromise because there was no 14th Amendment yet. / Slaves were not people, but property. This is a pro-slavery court decision. Roger B. Taney was Chief Justice.
7-2
NY Times v. US / Pentagon Papers (classified info.) was leaked to the NY Times. New York Times then prints information, and the United States takes them to the Supreme Court. / 1st / NY Times wins 6-3. Proves freedom of the press since the publication did not result in the immediate harm to the people.
US v. Nixon / Watergate audiotapes of Nixon (oops). Nixon states that "Executive Privilege" allows him to withold tapes from investigators. / Article I and II of the Constitution dealing with Congress, the President, and Executive power. / Court ruled against Nixon. Took power away from the President and gave more authority to Congress. Solidified Checks and Balances.
Roe v. Wade / Roe wanted to be allowed to have an abortion but it was against Texas law. / 14th and 9th. / Abortions are legal in the 1st trimester and in the second and third in certain circumstances (ie. if mother's life is at risk)
7-2
McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819
/ National/Federal Bank versus Maryland’s(State) right to tax the bank / Necessary and Proper/ / Necessary and Proper to establish banks
Gibbons v Ogden / When a federal and state law are in conflict, the federal law is supreme Gibbons had a federal permit for a steamboat business; Ogden had a state permit for the same waters. Siding with Gibbons, the Court said that, in matters of interstate commerce, the “Supremacy Clause” tilts the balance of power in favor of federal legislation. / Supremacy Clause / Supremacy
State v Mann
NC State Case / In 1829, Elizabeth Jones, who owned a slave named Lydia, hired her out for a year to John Mann of Chowan County. Mann shot and wounded Lydia when she struggled to escape a whipping. Mann was found guilty of battery by a jury of twelve white men drawn from his community and the court (Superior Court Judge Joseph J. Daniel) imposed a five dollar fine. The North Carolina Supreme Court overruled the conviction on the grounds that slaves were the absolute property of their owners who could not be punished at common law unless the legislature authorized such punishment. / State Constitutional Supremacy over Superior Court/local law / Supremacy Clause