Download Key US Supreme Court Cases: Summaries and Significance and more Exams Political Science in PDF only on Docsity!
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WGU C963 Court Cases Verified Guide
Graded A+
1. Marbury v. Madison: This case involved the Judiciary Act of 1789. The Supreme Court declared that the law conflicted with the U.S. Constitution, and the case
established the principle of judicial review wherein the Supreme Court has the power to declare laws passed by Congress and signed by the president to be unconstitutional.
2. Dred Scott v. Sanford: Supreme Court case that decided US Congress did not have the power to prohibit
slavery in federal territories and slaves, as private property, could not be taken away without due process - basically slaves would remain slaves in non-slave states and slaves could not sue because they were not citizens
3. Plessy v. Ferguson: a 1896 Supreme Court decision which legalized state ordered segregation so long as
the facilities for blacks and whites were equal
4. United States v. Miller: 1939; ruled that the National Firearms Act of 1934 was constitutional, allowing federal govt to ban interstate shipping of some
unregistered guns (because it was unrelated to state militias)
5. Korematsu v. US: 1944 Supreme Court case where the Supreme Court upheld the order providing for the relocation of Japanese Americans. It was not until
1988 that Congress formally apologized and agreed to pay $20,000 2 each survivor
6. Brown v Board of Education of Topeka (1954): Supreme Court ruling that overturned the Plessy
v. Ferguson Supreme Court Case of 1896. "Separate but equal" is Unconstitutional in the field of public education
7. Mapp v. Ohio: Established the exclusionary rule was applicable to the states (evidence seized illegally cannot be used in court)
8. Gideon v. Wainwright: A person who cannot attord an attorney may have one appointed by the govern- ment
9. Sherbert vs. Verner: Unemployment may not be denied on religious basis
10. Grsiwold v. Connecticut: Although several state constitutions do list the right to privacy as a protected
right, the explicit recognition by the Supreme Court of a right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution emerged only in the middle of the twentieth century. In this 1965 case, the
2 / court spelled out the right to privacy for the first time in a case that struck down a state law forbidding even married individuals to use any form of contraception.
11. Miranda v. Arizona: Supreme Court held that criminal suspects must be informed of their right to consult
with an attorney and of their right against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police.
12. Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections: Struck down poll taxes at the state level
13. Tinker v. Des Moines: Students have the right to symbolic speech at school as long as it is not disruptive
14. Brandenburg v. Ohio: 1969--Determined that a law that proscribes advocacy of violence for political
reform is constitutional if applied to speech that is not directed toward producing imminent lawlessness and is not likely to produce such action is not constitutional.
15. 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" and being "patently ottensive" and lacking in value.
16. Cohen v. California: This case involved an arrest and conviction for disturbing the peace for wearing a
jacket expressing opposition to the draft (and the Vietnam War). The conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court since his actions were silent and he made no attempt to otherwise disturb the peace.
17. Roe v. Wade: (1973) legalized abortion on the basis of a woman's right to privacy
18. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission: A 2010 landmark Supreme Court case
that ruled that individuals, corporations, and unions could donate unlimited amounts of money to groups that make independent political expenditures.
19. Burwell v. Hobby Lobby: (2014) Allowed closely-held, for-profit corporations to be exempt from a law
its owners religiously object to if there is a less restrictive means of furthering the law's interest.
20. Furman v. Georgia: This 1972 Supreme Court case struck down all state laws allowing the death penalty stating that they allowed for too much
discretion on the part of the judge and jury resulting in lack of consistent administration of the penalty.
21. Gillette v. United States: Individual cannot use religion to get out of particular war, must be against all
wars
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33. United States v. Windsor: Federal government must provide benefits to legally married same-sex couples
34. Obergefell v. Hodges: States obligated to recognize same-sex marriage from other states.
