AP Gov Supreme Court Case Test

Baker v. Carr/Wesberry v. Sanders

Court cases dealing with the elections of government officials, state legislators, and house members

Gitlow v. New York

First incorporation case by selectively incorporating the Freedom of the Press via the Fourteenth Amendments; the 1925 Supreme Court decision holding that freedoms of press and speech are "fundamental personal rights and liberties protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment from impairment by the states" as well as by the federal governemnt

New Jersey v. T.L.O

T.L.O. was a high school student. School officials searched her purse suspecting she had cigarettes. The officials discovered cigarettes, a small amount of marijuana, and a list containing the names of students who owed T.L.O. money. T.L.O. was charged with possession of marijuana. She fought the search, claiming it violated her Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, held that the search was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.

New York Times Co. v. U.S.

The ruling made it possible for the New York Times and Washington Post newspapers to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers without risk of government censorship or punishment.

McCreary County, KY v. ACLU of Kentucky and Van Orden v. Perry

Two places - a courthouse and a school - posted the Ten Commandments on their front lawns. The Court ruled that this was constitutional for the courthouse due to its historical significance, but the school's display was unconstitutional.

Schenck v. United States

a 1919 decision upholding the conviction of a socialist who had urged young men to resist the military draft during World War I; Justice Holmes declared that government can limit speech if the speech provokes a "clear and present danger" of substantive evils

Korematsu v. United States

a 1944 Supreme Court decision that upheld as constitutional the forced internment of more than 100,000 American citizens of Japanese descent in encampments during World War II

Miller v. California

a 1973 Supreme Court decision that avoided defining obscenity by holding that community standards be used to determine whether material is obscene in terms of appealing to a "prurient interest"

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

a 1978 Supreme Court decision that a state university could not admit less qualified individuals solely because of their race; the Court did not, however, rule that such affirmative action policies and the use of race as a criterion for admission were unconstitutional, only that such policies had to be formulated differently; the Court stated that basing admission solely on "racial quotas" was unconstitutional.

Texas v. Johnson

a 1989 case in which the Supreme Court struck down a law banning the burning of the American flag on the grounds that such an action was symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment.

Planned Parenthood v. Casey

a 1992 case in which the Supreme Court loosened its standard for evaluating restrictions on abortion from one of "strict scrutiny" of any restraints on a "fundamental right" to one of "undue burden" that permits considerably more regulation

United States v. Leon

a Case about drugs in which the Supreme Court of the United States created the "good faith" exception to the exclusionary rule. The police searched a man with an invalid search warrant because there was no probable cause.

City of Boerne v. Flores

a Supreme Court case concerning the scope of Congress's enforcement power under the fifth section of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case also had a significant impact on historic preservation.

U.S. v. Reynolds

a Supreme Court of the United States case that held that religious duty was not a defense to a criminal indictment. Reynolds was the first Supreme Court opinion to address the Impartial Jury and the Confrontation Clauses of the Sixth Amendment.

Nix v. Williams

a US Supreme Court decision that created an "inevitable discovery" exception to the exclusionary rule. The exclusionary rule makes most evidence gathered through violations of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure, inadmissible in criminal trials as "fruit of the poisonous tree". In Nix, the Court ruled that evidence that would inevitably have been discovered by law enforcement through legal means remained admissible.

Shaw v. Reno

a United States Supreme Court case argued on April 20, 1993. The ruling was significant in the area of redistricting and racial gerrymandering.

Wallace v. Jaffree

a United States Supreme Court case deciding on the issue of silent school prayer

Weeks v. United States

a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously held that the warrantless seizure of items from a private residence constitutes a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha

a United States Supreme Court case ruling in 1983 that the one-house legislative veto violated the constitutional separation of powers.

Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith

a United States Supreme Court case that determined that the state could deny unemployment benefits to a person fired for violating a state prohibition on the use of peyote, even though the use of the drug was part of a religious ritual. Although states have the power to accommodate otherwise illegal acts done in pursuit of religious beliefs, they are not required to do so.

Sheppard v. Maxwell

a United States Supreme Court case that examined the rights of freedom of the press as outlined in the 1st Amendment when weighed against a defendant's right to a fair trial as required by the 6th Amendment.

Gonzales v. Carhart

a United States Supreme Court case that upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.[1] The case reached the high court after U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appealed a ruling of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in favor of LeRoy Carhart that struck down the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Also before the Supreme Court was the consolidated appeal of Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which had struck down the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.

Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser

a United States Supreme Court decision involving free speech and public schools. Matthew Fraser was suspended from school for making a speech full of sexual double entendres at a school assembly.

Webster v. Reproductive Health Services

a United States Supreme Court decision on July 3, 1989 upholding a Missouri law that imposed restrictions on the use of state funds, facilities, and employees in performing, assisting with, or counseling on abortions.

Lee v. Weisman

a United States Supreme Court decision regarding school prayer. It was the first major school prayer case decided by the Rehnquist Court. It ruled that schools may not sponsor clerics to conduct even non-denominational prayer.

Zelman v. Simmons-Harris

a case decided by the United States Supreme Court that tested the allowance of school vouchers in relation to the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. A divided Court upheld an Ohio school voucher plan.

Santa Fe School Independent School District v. Doe

a case heard before the United States Supreme Court. It ruled that a policy permitting student-led, student-initiated prayer at high school football games violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

US Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton

a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that states cannot impose qualifications for prospective members of the U.S. Congress stricter than those specified in the Constitution.

United States v. Virginia

a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the Virginia Military Institute (VMI)'s long-standing male-only admission policy in a 7-1 decision.

McConnell v. Federal Election Commission

a case in which the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of most of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), often referred to as the McCain-Feingold Act.

Boy Scouts of America v. Dale

a case of the Supreme Court of the United States decided on June 28, 2000, that held that the constitutional right to freedom of association allows a private organization like the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to exclude a person from membership when "the presence of that person affects in a significant way the group's ability to advocate public or private viewpoints."[

Good News Club v. Milford

a case that held that when a government operates a "limited public forum," it may not discriminate against speech that takes place within that forum on the basis of the viewpoint it expresses—in this case, against religious speech engaged in by an evangelical Christian club for children.

West Virginia v. Barnette

a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States holding that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protected students from being forced to salute the American flag and say the Pledge of Allegiance in school. The Court's 6-3 opinion, delivered by Justice Robert H. Jackson, is remembered for its forceful defense of free speech and constitutional rights generally as being placed "beyond the reach of majorities and officials."

Abrams v. United States

a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States upholding the 1918 Amendment to the Espionage Act of 1917, which made it a criminal offense to urge curtailment of production of the materials necessary to the war against Germany with intent to hinder the progress of the war.

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

a decision by the United States Supreme Court that defined the constitutional rights of students in U.S. public schools.

Gibbons v. Ogden

a landmark Supreme Court case decided in 1824 in which the Court interpreted very broadly the clause in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution giving Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce, encompassing virtually every form of commercial activity; the commerce clause has been the constitutional basis for much of Congress's regulation of the economy

Brandenburg v. Ohio

a landmark United States Supreme Court case based on the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Court held that government cannot punish inflammatory speech unless that speech is directed to inciting, and is likely to incite, imminent lawless action.

Clinton v. Jones

a landmark United States Supreme Court case in 1997 establishing that a sitting President of the United States has no immunity from civil law litigation against him, for acts done before taking office and unrelated to the office.

Adarand Constructors v. Pena

a landmark United States Supreme Court case which held that racial classifications, imposed by the federal government, must be analyzed under a standard of "strict scrutiny," the most stringent level of review which requires that racial classifications be narrowly tailored to further compelling governmental interests. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote the majority opinion of the Court, which effectively overturned Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC, U.S., in which the Court had created a two tiered system for analyzing racial classifications. Adarand held the federal government to the same standards as the state and local governments through a process of "reverse incorporation," in which the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause was held to bind the federal government to the same standards as state and local governments are bound under the 14th Amendment.

Buckley v. Valeo

a landmark case in American campaign finance law. In a per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down on First Amendment grounds several provisions in the 1974 Amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act.

Griswold v. Connecticut

a landmark case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Constitution protected a right to privacy. The case involved a Connecticut statute that prohibits any person from using "any drug, medicinal article or instrument for the purpose of preventing conception." By a vote of 7-2, the Supreme Court invalidated the law on the grounds that it violated the "right to marital privacy".

Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger

a landmark case in which the United States Supreme Court upheld the affirmative action admissions policy of the University of Michigan Law School and a case where Court upheld the value of student body diversity, but decided that the use of race in the University of Michigan's undergraduate equal opportunity program was not narrowly tailored to achieve the university's asserted interest in diversity.

Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier

a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that held that public school curricular student newspapers that have not been established as forums for student expression are subject to a lower level of First Amendment protection than independent student expression or newspapers established (by policy or practice) as forums for student expression.

Lawrence v. Texas

a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court. In the 6-3 ruling the Court struck down the sodomy law in Texas and, by extension, invalidated sodomy laws in 13 other states, making same-sex sexual activity legal in every U.S. state and territory. The Court overturned its previous ruling on the same issue in the 1986 case Bowers v. Hardwick, where it upheld a challenged Georgia statute and did not find a constitutional protection of sexual privacy. Lead to the legalization of gay marriage that is spreading today.

Everson v. Board of Education

a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court which applied the Establishment Clause in the country's Bill of Rights to State law.

Clinton v United States

a legal case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the line-item veto as granted in the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 violated the Presentment Clause of the United States Constitution because it impermissibly gave the President of the United States the power to unilaterally amend or repeal parts of statutes that had been duly passed by the United States Congress.

McCulloch v. Maryland

an 1819 Supreme Court decision that established the supremacy of the national government over state governments. In deciding this case, Chief Justice John Marshall and his colleagues held that Congress had certain implied powers in addition to the enumerated powers found in the Constitution

Plessy v. Ferguson

an 1896 Supreme Court decision that provided a constitutional justification for segregation by ruling a Louisiana law requiring "separate but equal accommodations for the white and colored races" was not unconstitutional

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education

an important United States Supreme Court case dealing with the busing of students to promote integration in public schools. After a first trial going to the Board of Education, the Court held that busing was an appropriate remedy for the problem of racial imbalance in schools, even when the imbalance resulted from the selection of students based on geographic proximity to the school rather than from deliberate assignment based on race. This was done to ensure the schools would be "properly" integrated and that all students would receive equal educational opportunities regardless of their race.

Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah

case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that an ordinance passed in Hialeah, Florida, forbidding the "unnecessary" killing of "an animal in a public or private ritual or ceremony not for the primary purpose of food consumption", was unconstitutional. The law was enacted soon after the city council of Hialeah learned that the Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, which practiced Santería, a religion whose rituals sometimes demand animal sacrifice, was planning on locating there.

Marbury v Madison

the 1803 Supreme Court case in which Chief Justice John Marshall and his associates first asserted the right of the Supreme Court to determine the meaning of the U.S. Constitution; this decision established the Court's power of judicial review over the acts of Congress, in this case the Judiciary Act of 1789

Dred Scott v. Sanford

the 1857 Supreme Court decision ruling that a slave who had traveled through a free state enjoyed no rights as a citizen and that Congress had no authority to ban slavery in the western territories

Near v. Minnesota

the 1931 Supreme Court decision holding that the First Amendment protects newspapers from prior restraint

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka I and II

the 1954 Supreme Court decision holding that school segregation in Topeka, Kansas, was inherently unconstitutional because it violated the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection under the law; this case marked the end of legal segregation in public schools in the U.S.

Mapp v. Ohio

the 1961 Supreme Court ruling that the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures must be extended to the states as well as the federal government

Engel v. Vitale

the 1962 Supreme Court decision holding that state officials violated the First Amendment when they wrote a prayer to be recited by New York's school children

Gideon v. Wainwright

the 1963 Supreme Court decision holding that anyone accused of a felony where imprisonment might be imposed, however poor he or she might be, has a right to a lawyer

Miranda v. Arizona

the 1966 Supreme Court decision that sets guidelines for police questioning of accused persons to protect them against self-incrimination and to protect their right to legal counsel

Lemon v. Kurtzman

the 1971 Supreme Court decision that established that aid to church-related schools must (1) have a secular legislative purpose; (2) have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion; and (3) not foster excessive government entanglement with religion

Roe v. Wade

the 1973 Supreme Court decision holding that a state ban on all abortions was unconstitutional; the decision forbade state control over abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy, permitting states to limit abortions to protect the mother's health in the second trimester, and permitted states to protect the fetus during the third trimester

U.S. v. Nixon

the 1974 case in which the Supreme Court unanimously held that the doctrine of executive privilege was implicit in the Constitution but could not be extended to protect documents relevant to criminal prosecutions

NAACP v. Alabama

the Supreme Court protected the right to assemble peaceably in this 1958 case when it decided the NAACP did not have to reveal its membership list and thus subject its members to harassment

Bush v. Gore

the United States Supreme Court decision that resolved the dispute surrounding the 2000 presidential election. Three days earlier, the Court had preliminarily halted the Florida recount that was occurring.

Wisconsin v. Yoder

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 outweighed the state's interest in educating its children.

Citizens United v. FEC

the court case that restored the First Amendment protection to political speech. Small businesses, corporations, unions, and membership based organizations may now have a voice in the public discourse.

United States v. Lopez

the first United States Supreme Court case since the New Deal to set limits to Congress's power under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution in 1995