Supreme Court Cases

Question 1

Marbury v. Madison 1803

Answer 1

Established judicial review - the right to determine the constitutionality of laws

Question 2

McCulloch v Maryland 1819

Answer 2

Established national supremacy - the Constitution and federal laws overrule state laws when the two conflict.

Question 3

Gibbons v. Ogden 1824
Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific RR v. Illinois 1886
United States v. E.C. Knight Co. 1895

Answer 3

Congress has power to regulate interstate commerce
Creates ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission)

Question 4

Dred Scott v Sandford 1857

Answer 4

African Americans were not citizens (overturned by 14th Amendment)

Declared enslaved people were property of owners

As property protected by the 5th amendment, enslaved people could be taken anywhere; making the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional

Question 5

Civil rights Cases 1883

Answer 5

14th Amendment prohibited states from discrimination, not individual actions in the private sector such as in theaters, hotels, and restaurants

13th Amendment outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude

Question 6

Plessy v. Ferguson 1896

Answer 6

Separate facilities for whites and blacks are ok if they are equal.

Segregation is legal.

Overturned in 1954 by Brown v. Board of Education

Question 7

Schenck v. United States 1919

Answer 7

There are limits on free speech; free speech is not absolute but dependent on circumstances

(a person who falsely yells “fire” in a crowded theater is not protected because this is a “clear and present danger”)

Question 8

Korematsu v. United States 1944

Answer 8

The president during wartime can limit a group’s civil liberties
Forced relocation of Japanese Americans to Wartime Relocation Camps during World War II, after the Pearl Harbor Attack

Question 9

Brown v. Board of Education 1954

Answer 9

Overrules Plessy v. Ferguson stating that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal and violate the 14th Amendment

Question 10

Miranda v. Arizona 1966

Answer 10

Those accused of a crime must be read their rights prior to questioning…

The right to remain silent
The right to a lawyer, and that what they say can be used against them in court

Evidence obtained without this warning may not be used in court.

Question 11

United States v. Nixon 1974

Answer 11

Nixon must turn over the Watergate Tapes.

No president is above the law.

Separation of powers does not protect a president from judicial review of abusing their power.

Question 12

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Answer 12

Supreme Court decision which gave women the right to choose if they want an abortion

Question 13

New Jersey v. T.L.O (1985)

Answer 13

a student’s right to priv.cy is limited under certain conditions