Issue:

Equality

Issue: Civil Liberties

Issue: Rights of the Accused

Issue: The Judicial

Branch

200

300

200

300

400

500

100

200

400

100

200

100

300

100

Answer

This ruling declared that African Americans were property and could be taken anywhere; also that African Americans cannot be citizens of the United States and that Congress had no power to forbid slavery in the United States territories.

Question

What is

Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)?

Answer

This ruling permitted legal segregation by ruling that “separate but equal” facilities did not violate the Constitution’s equal

protection clause.

Question

What is

Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896 )?

Answer

This ruling reversed Plessy v. Ferguson and ruled that separation of races in public

schools violates the constitutional guarantees of equal rights.

Question

What is

Brown v. Bd.

of Education of Topeka

(1954)?

George Hayes, Thurgood Marshall and James Nabrit in front of the Supreme Court, 1954. Photo: Cass Gilbert/Corbis

Answer

This ruling established limits on free speech, hold that this right is not absolute. It set the “clear and present danger” standard for when free speech can be restricted.

“Free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and

causing panic…” – Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

Question

What is

Schenck v. United States

(1919)?

During World Word I Schenck distributed fliers that urged young men not to register for the draftas required by federal law. He was arrested and said it violated his freedom on Speech. The Supreme Court disagreed. Intime of danger the governmentcan limit civil liberties.

Answer

This ruling held that the executive order issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt

that sent Japanese Americans to internment camps during World War II was constitutional because of a threat posed to

national security.

Question

What is

Korematsu

v.United States

(1944)?

Answer The New York State Board of Regents asked public school to adopt a prayer. Ten families went to court claiming that

this violated the 1st Amendment. The case went from a New York State Court to the United States Supreme Court. The Court ruled that prayer in schools violated 1st

Amendment rights regarding establishment of a state religion.

Question

What is

Engel v. Vitale

(1962)?

Answer

This ruling gave women the right to abortion and supported this decision on the basis of

a constitutional right of privacy.

Question

What is

Roe v. Wade

(1973)?

Answer

Newspapers were publishing a classified study on Vietnam policy entitled “History of United States Decision Making Profess on Vietnam Policy,” commonly called the

“Pentagon Papers.” This issue was whether the President of the United States

had the power to stop it publication.

Question

What is

New York Times Co. v. United

States

(1971)?

Answer

This ruling held that the

14th Amendment due process clause guaranteed a 6th Amendment right to a

lawyer to all defendants in a criminal case. It also ruled that the state must provide a lawyer if the defendant cannot afford to

pay for one.

Question

What is

Gideon v. Wainwright

(1963)?

Charged with breaking and entering into a Panama City, Florida, pool hall, Clarence Earl Gideon Gideon, was denied his request that an attorney be appointed to represent him. The Supreme Court reversed his conviction, holding that defense counsel is "fundamental and essential" to a fair trial.

Answer

This ruling held that police must inform suspects when arrested of their right to

remain silent, their right to have a lawyer when questioned, and that what they say may be used against them. This is based on the 5th Amendment right against

self-incrimination.

Question

What is

Miranda v.

Arizona

(1966)?

A mug shot of Ernesto Miranda, whose wrongful conviction led to the landmark case Miranda v. Arizona, in which the Court held that detained criminal suspects must be informed of their rights prior to police questioning.

Answer

This ruling held that citizens are protected against unlawful search and seizure by the

states as well as by the federal government as guaranteed by the 4th

Amendment.

Question What is

Mapp v. Ohio

(1961)? Dollree Mapp: police forcibly entered her house without a search warrant and found obscene items. After being prosecuted and convicted, Mapp appealed her conviction to the Supreme Court. In Mapp, the Court expanded the reach of the Fourth Amendment to the actions of state law enforcement officers. Evidence illegally obtained could be excluded from trial. After Mapp, the use of search warrants increased dramatically in all states. 

Answer

This ruling held that students in public schools do not have the same 4th

amendment rights as adults.

Question

What is

New Jersey

v. T.L.O.

(1985)?

A school official caught T.L.O smoking in a school bathroom. She was taken to the principal’s office, where the assistant vice-principal demanded to see her purse. He found a pack of cigarette rolling papers, marijuana, a pipe, empty plastic bags, a bunch of one-dollar bills, and a list of students who owed T.L.O. money. The Supreme Court ruled that school officials don’t need a warrant before searching a student on campus if they have a justifiable reason that is related to the search.

Answer

The ruling established the power of the Supreme Court to declare an act of Congress or of the executive branch

unconstitutional.

“Judicial Review”

It also strengthened the judiciary in relation to the other branches of government.

Question

What is

Marbury v. Madison

(1803)?

Answer

This ruling broadened the power of Congress to use the “elastic clause” of the

Constitution to expand federal power.

It also established the principles of national supremacy – that the Constitution and

federal laws overrule state laws when the 2 conflict.

Question

What is

McCulloch v. Maryland

(1819)?

This ruling affirmed the supremacy of federal law and established the doctrine of implied powers, which expanded the scope of federal power.