Important Supreme Court Cases

Which Supreme Court case held that state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students were unconstitutional?

Brown v. Board of Education

Which Supreme Court case held that people of African descent who were brought to the U.S. and held as slaves (and their descendants) were not U.S. citizens and were not protected by the Constitution?

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Which Supreme Court case held that it is unconstitutional for state officials to write an official school prayer and to encourage students to recite it?

Engel v. Vitale

Which Supreme Court case held that the Commerce Clause grants Congress the power to regulate any aspect of commerce that crosses state lines, including modes of transportation?

Gibbons v. Ogden

Which Supreme Court case invalidated a state law prohibiting the use of contraceptives on the grounds that the law violated the right to marital privacy?

Griswold v. Connecticut

Which Supreme Court case held that a narrowly tailored use of race in student admission decisions is permissible in order to obtain the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body?

Grutter v. Bollinger

Which Supreme Court case held that the government, through the use of eminent domain, can claim and pass on privately owned land to another private owner if doing so results in economic development?

Kelo v. City of New London

Which Supreme Court case upheld the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which ordered Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II?

Korematsu v. United States

Which Supreme Court case struck down state funding for religious schools

Lemon v. Kurtzman

Which Supreme Court case invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage?

Loving v. Virginia

Which Supreme Court case established that evidence obtained through unreasonable searches and seizures, in violation of the Fourth Amendment, may not be used in state courts for state law criminal prosecutions?

Mapp v. Ohio

Which Supreme Court case established the basis for the exercise of judicial review under Article III of the Constitution?

Marbury v. Madison

Which Supreme Court case established that the Constitution grants implied powers to Congress which can be used to implement the Constitution's express powers?

McCulloch v. Maryland

Which Supreme Court case established that police must advise criminal suspects of their Constitutional rights before questioning them?

Miranda v. Arizona

Which Supreme Court case upheld the individual health insurance mandate included in the Affordable Care Act

National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius

Which Supreme Court case established that a public official suing for defamation must prove that the statement was made with "actual malice?"

New York Times v. Sullivan

Which Supreme Court case held that the right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples?

Obergefell v. Hodges

Which Supreme Court case upheld state laws requiring racial segregation at public facilities under the "separate but equal" doctrine?

Plessy v. Ferguson

Which Supreme Court case held that race-based quota systems in education violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution?

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

Which Supreme Court case held that religious duty is not a legitimate defense to a criminal indictment?

Reynolds v. United States

Which Supreme Court case held that abortion is a fundamental right under the United States Constitution?

Roe v. Wade

Which Supreme Court case reaffirmed that obscene material is not protected by the First Amendment, and also redefined the Constitutional test for determining what constitutes obscene material?

Roth v. United States

Which Supreme Court case held that the First Amendment right to free speech doesn't protect speech that presents a "clear and present danger?"

Schenck v. United States

Which Supreme Court case held that the act of burning a flag is protected "speech" under the First Amendment?

Texas v. Johnson

Which Supreme Court case defined the First Amendment rights of public school students?

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District

Which Supreme Court case held that the President cannot use executive privilege to withhold evidence that is relevant in a criminal trial?

United States v. Nixon