Court Case

Marbury v. Madison

Date
1803

Issue
Whether Congress could expand the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court

Decision and So What

o Unanimous (4-0) o Marbury had the right to his commission but the court did not have the power to force Madison to deliver the commission o the supreme court had the power of Judicial Review

McCulloch v. Maryland

1819

The Banks

o The court determined that Congress did have the power to create the Bank o Marshall invoked the first Bank of the United States history as authority for the constitutionality of the second bank

o
o

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gibbons. The sole argued source of Congress's power to promulgate the law at issue was the Commerce Clause
commerce is more than mere trafficthat it is the trade of commodities it is also intercourse

Gibbons v. Ogden

1824

Commerce

Dartmouth v. Woodward

1819

Private Property

The decision settled the nature of public versus private charters and resulted in the rise of the American business corporation o ruled in favor of the College and invalidated the act of the New Hampshire Legislature, which in turn allowed Dartmouth to continue as a private institution and take back its buildings, seal, and charter

Worcester v. Georgia

1832

Native Americans Land and Non-Native Americans License

o ruled that the Cherokee Nation was a "distinct community" with self-government "in which the laws of Georgia can have no force." o established the doctrine that the national government of the United States, and not individual states, had authority in American Indian affairs. o 8-1 decision; January 21, 1895 o "that the result of the transaction was the creation of a monopoly in the manufacture of a necessary of life" but ruled that it "could not be suppressed under the provisions of the act" o The court ruled that manufacturingin this case, refiningwas a local activity not subject to congressional regulation of interstate commerce o 5-4 decision o an individual's "general right to make a contract in relation to his business." o ruled that the law limiting bakers' working hours did not constitute a legitimate exercise of police powers

U.S. v. E.C. Knight

1895

Limited Governments Power to Control Monopolies

Lochner v. New York

1905

Limiting the # of hours that a baker could work each day

Dred Scott v. Sandford

1857

Slaves protected by Constitution

o Handed down on March 6, 1857 o found an act of Congress to be unconstitutional o Chief Justice Taney delivered the opinion of the Court, with each of the concurring and dissenting Justices filing separate opinions. o six Justices agreed with the ruling; Samuel Nelson concurred with the ruling but not its reasoning, and o Benjamin Robbins Curtis and John McLean dissented o 7-1 decision; May 18, 1896 o The court rejected the view that the Louisiana law implied any inferiority of blacks o Law separated the two races as a matter of public policy

Plessy v. Ferguson

1869

Constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation

Brown v. Board of Education

1954

State laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional

o Overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision o Handed down to Warren Court with unanimous decision (9-0) o separate educational facilities are inherently unequal

Gideon v. Wainwright

1963

Providing criminal cases for defendants who cant afford attorneys

o March 18, 1963 o Confirmed the right of defendants in criminal proceedings to counsel during trial on appeal and in subsequent cases; even during police interrogation

o Supreme Court overturned Escobedo's conviction (By a 5-4 vote) o recognized a suspect's right to an attorney during police interrogation Escobedo v. Illinois 1964 Criminal suspects have a right to counsel during police interrogations o ruling that due to the coercive nature of the custodial interrogation by police, no confession could be admissible under the Fifth Amendment self-incrimination clause and Sixth Amendment right to an attorney unless a suspect had been made aware of his/her rights and the suspect had then waived them o Miranda's conviction was overturned o The case was decided in Mapp's favor by a vote of 63 o the court explicitly stated that the exclusionary rule applies to states, hence the state cannot use evidence gained by illegal means to convict o This overturned the Wolf ruling

Miranda v. Arizona

1966

Miranda Rights

Mapp v. Ohio

1961

14th Amendment Rights

Schenck v. U.S.

1919

Right to express Freedom of Speech during draft

o unanimous opinion o held that Schenck's criminal conviction was constitutional o The First Amendment did not protect speech encouraging insubordination o The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic

New York Times v. U.S.

1971

Freedom of the Press

o 6-3 decision o the Supreme Court agreed with the two lower courts which had originally decided that the government had not met its "heavy burden" of showing a justification for a prior restraint o The Justices' opinions included different degrees of support for the clear superiority of the First Amendment and no Justice fully supported the governments case no clear and exclusive verdict appears to have come out of this case o the court's decision was unanimous, although four separate opinions were published o held that the courts may not review the impeachment and trial of a federal officer because the Constitution reserves that function to a coordinate political branch o Article I. Sec. 3 of the Constitution gave the Senate the "sole" power to "try" impeachments o handed down in March 1962 o The Court split 6 to 2 in ruling that Baker's case was justiciable o producing, in addition to the opinion of the Court by Justice William J. Brennan, three concurring opinions and two dissenting opinions

U.S. v. Nixon

1993

Nixon convicted of committing perjury before a grand jury, but refused to resign from office even after incarceration

Baker v. Carr

1962

Enabling federal courts to intervene in and to decide reapportionment cases

Roe v. Wade

1973

Abortion

issued its decision on January 22, 1973, with a 7-to-2 majority vote in favor of Roe o The Court deemed abortion a fundamental right under the United States Constitution, thereby subjecting all laws attempting to restrict it to the standard of strict scrutiny o written by Justice Hugo Black, found the case largely indistinguishable from the previous year's Hirabayashi v. United States decision, and rested largely on the same principle deference to Congress and the military authorities, particularly in light of the uncertainty following Pearl Harbor o the defendant was sent to an internment camp

Korematsu v. U.S.

1944

Japanese Internment Camps

Clinton v. City of New York

1998

Line Item Veto

o Line item-Veto violated the Presentment Clause of the Constitution o a bill must be approved or rejected by the President in its entirety. o In favor by the Majority of the Supreme Court o February 7, 2012 o the three-judge Ninth Circuit panel ruled 21 in favor of the plaintiffs, declaring Proposition 8 unconstitutional o there is complete freedom among ALL Americans no matter their preference in marriage

Perry v. Brown (Proposition 8)

2012

Gay Marriage; restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples unconstitutional