NAQT Supreme Court Cases

Question 1

Flashcard 1: Front: Chisholm v. Georgia (1793)

Answer 1

Back: Allowed citizens to sue states, prompting the 11th Amendment (1794). Ruled states lack sovereign immunity in federal courts. Vote: 4–1. Controversial decision led to rapid constitutional amendment.

Question 2

Flashcard 2: Front: Chisholm v. Georgia (1793)

Answer 2

Back: Alexander Chisholm sued Georgia over unpaid Revolutionary War debts. Chief Justice John Jay and Justice James Wilson supported the ruling. No majority opinion; Article III basis. Set precedent for federal jurisdiction over states.

Question 3

Flashcard 3: Front: Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Answer 3

Back: Established judicial review, allowing the Supreme Court to nullify unconstitutional laws. Declared part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional. Vote: 4–0. Cornerstone of judicial power.

Question 4

Flashcard 4: Front: Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Answer 4

Back: William Marbury sued Secretary of State James Madison over undelivered judicial commissions. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the opinion, citing Article III. Strengthened checks and balances.

Question 5

Flashcard 5: Front: Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

Answer 5

Back: Affirmed federal authority over interstate commerce, striking down New York’s steamboat monopoly. Relied on the Commerce Clause. Vote: 6–0. Expanded federal regulatory power.

Question 6

Flashcard 6: Front: Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

Answer 6

Back: Thomas Gibbons challenged Aaron Ogden’s monopoly license. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the opinion. Case arose from competing steamboat operations on the Hudson River.

Question 7

Flashcard 7: Front: Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

Answer 7

Back: Ruled African-Americans were not U.S. citizens and Congress couldn’t ban slavery in territories, invalidating the Missouri Compromise. Vote: 7–2. Escalated Civil War tensions.

Question 8

Flashcard 8: Front: Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

Answer 8

Back: Dred Scott sued John Sanford for freedom. Chief Justice Roger Taney wrote the majority opinion; Benjamin Curtis dissented. Cited Article IV and property rights.

Question 9

Flashcard 9: Front: Munn v. Illinois (1877)

Answer 9

Back: Upheld state regulation of private businesses in the public interest, allowing Illinois to set grain elevator rates. Vote: 7–2. Established Granger laws precedent.

Question 10

Flashcard 10: Front: Munn v. Illinois (1877)

Answer 10

Back: Ira Munn’s grain elevator company challenged Illinois’ rate caps. Chief Justice Morrison Waite wrote the opinion, citing the 14th Amendment. Part of the Granger Cases.

Question 11

Flashcard 11: Front: Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Answer 11

Back: Upheld separate but equal segregation laws under the 14th Amendment. Validated Louisiana’s railway segregation. Vote: 7–1. Overturned by Brown v. Board (1954).

Question 12

Flashcard 12: Front: Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Answer 12

Back: Homer Plessy challenged segregation laws. Justice Henry Brown wrote the majority; John Marshall Harlan dissented, arguing the Constitution is color-blind. Stemmed from Jim Crow era.

Question 13

Flashcard 13: Front: Lochner v. New York (1905)

Answer 13

Back: Struck down labor regulations, prioritizing freedom of contract under the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause. Vote: 5–4. Overturned by West Coast Hotel v. Parrish (1937).

Question 14

Flashcard 14: Front: Lochner v. New York (1905)

Answer 14

Back: Joseph Lochner challenged New York’s 60-hour bakery workweek limit. Justice Rufus Peckham wrote the opinion; John Marshall Harlan and Oliver Wendell Holmes dissented. Marked the Lochner era.

Question 15

Flashcard 15: Front: Standard Oil v. U.S. (1911)

Answer 15

Back: Upheld antitrust laws, dissolving Standard Oil’s monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act. Introduced the rule of reason. Vote: 8–1. Bolstered trust-busting.

Question 16

Flashcard 16: Front: Standard Oil v. U.S. (1911)

Answer 16

Back: The U.S. sued John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. Chief Justice Edward White wrote the opinion. Targeted monopolistic practices in the oil industry.

Question 17

Flashcard 17: Front: Schenck v. U.S. (1919)

Answer 17

Back: Upheld Espionage Act convictions, limiting First Amendment speech under the clear and present danger test. Vote: 9–0. Set wartime speech limits.

Question 18

Flashcard 18: Front: Schenck v. U.S. (1919)

Answer 18

Back: Charles Schenck distributed anti-draft leaflets during WWI. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the opinion, citing national security. Arose from socialist activism.

Question 19

Flashcard 19: Front: Gitlow v. New York (1925)

Answer 19

Back: Extended First Amendment protections to states via incorporation under the 14th Amendment. Upheld conviction but set precedent. Vote: 7–2.

Question 20

Flashcard 20: Front: Gitlow v. New York (1925)

Answer 20

Back: Benjamin Gitlow was convicted for socialist pamphlets under New York’s criminal anarchy law. Justice Edward Sanford wrote the opinion; Oliver Wendell Holmes dissented.

Question 21

Flashcard 21: Front: Korematsu v. U.S. (1944)

Answer 21

Back: Upheld Japanese internment during WWII under Executive Order 9066, citing national security. Vote: 6–3. Controversial; later criticized.

Question 22

Flashcard 22: Front: Korematsu v. U.S. (1944)

Answer 22

Back: Fred Korematsu defied internment orders. Justice Hugo Black wrote the majority; Frank Murphy dissented, calling it racist. 14th Amendment basis.

Question 23

Flashcard 23: Front: Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Answer 23

Back: Declared school segregation unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson. Cited 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Vote: 9–0.

Question 24

Flashcard 24: Front: Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Answer 24

Back: Linda Brown’s case, argued by Thurgood Marshall. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the unanimous opinion. Ordered desegregation “with all deliberate speed.”

Question 25

Flashcard 25: Front: Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Answer 25

Back: Applied the exclusionary rule to states, barring illegally obtained evidence under the Fourth Amendment. Vote: 6--3. Strengthened incorporation.

Question 26

Flashcard 26: Front: Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Answer 26

Back: Dollree Mapp challenged evidence from an illegal search. Justice Tom Clark wrote the opinion. Extended Wolf v. Colorado (1949) protections.

Question 27

Flashcard 27: Front: Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Answer 27

Back: Guaranteed right to counsel for felony defendants under the Sixth Amendment, via incorporation. Vote: 9--0. Expanded indigent defense.

Question 28

Flashcard 28: Front: Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Answer 28

Back: Clarence Gideon demanded a lawyer in his burglary trial. Justice Hugo Black wrote the opinion, overturning Betts v. Brady (1942).

Question 29

Flashcard 29: Front: Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Answer 29

Back: Established Miranda rights, requiring police to inform suspects of Fifth Amendment and Sixth Amendment rights. Vote: 5--4.

Question 30

Flashcard 30: Front: Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Answer 30

Back: Ernesto Miranda’s confession was challenged. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the opinion; John Marshall Harlan II dissented. Set police procedure precedent.

Question 31

Flashcard 31: Front: Loving v. Virginia (1967)

Answer 31

Back: Struck down bans on interracial marriage, citing the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses. Vote: 9--0. Ended anti-miscegenation laws.

Question 32

Flashcard 32: Front: Loving v. Virginia (1967)

Answer 32

Back: Richard and Mildred Loving challenged Virginia’s law. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the opinion. Arose from their arrest for interracial marriage.

Question 33

Flashcard 33: Front: Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Answer 33

Back: Upheld First Amendment rights for students to protest, barring substantial disruption. Vote: 7--2. Protected symbolic speech in schools.

Question 34

Flashcard 34: Front: Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Answer 34

Back: Mary Beth and John Tinker wore armbands to protest the Vietnam War. Justice Abe Fortas wrote the opinion; Hugo Black dissented. free speech case.

Question 35

Flashcard 35: Front: New York Times v. U.S. (1971)

Answer 35

Back: Upheld First Amendment press freedom, allowing publication of the Pentagon Papers. Rejected prior restraint. Vote: 6--3.

Question 36

Flashcard 36: Front: New York Times v. U.S. (1971)

Answer 36

Back: The U.S. sought to block Pentagon Papers publication. Justice William Brennan supported the per curiam opinion; Harry Blackmun dissented. Ellsworth Committee context.

Question 37

Flashcard 37: Front: Roe v. Wade (1973)

Answer 37

Back: Legalized abortion in the first trimester, citing a right to privacy under the 14th Amendment. Vote: 7--2. Overturned by Dobbs v. Jackson (2022).

Question 38

Flashcard 38: Front: Roe v. Wade (1973)

Answer 38

Back: Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe) sued Henry Wade. Justice Harry Blackmun wrote the opinion, building on Griswold v. Connecticut. William Rehnquist dissented.

Question 39

Flashcard 39: Front: U.S. v. Nixon (1974)

Answer 39

Back: Limited executive privilege, ordering Nixon to release Watergate tapes. Upheld judicial review over the president. Vote: 8--0.

Question 40

Flashcard 40: Front: U.S. v. Nixon (1974)

Answer 40

Back: Special prosecutor Leon Jaworski subpoenaed Nixon’s tapes. Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote the unanimous opinion. Led to Nixon’s resignation.