Court Cases - AP Government and Politics

The Supreme Court case, Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), was an extremely important case in the build-up to the Civil War. It was presided over by Chief Justice Roger Taney, who delivered the verdict that not only could Scott not sue in a Federal court, due to his being black and thus not being a citizen, but also that the government had no right to regulate the extension of slavery into the territories. Not surprisingly, the verdict inspired widespread outrage among abolitionist parties in the North and furthered the divide between the North and the South.

The Supreme Court case Korematsu v. United States (1944) upheld the right of the United States government to forcibly intern Japanese citizens and American citizens of Japanese descent during World War Two. The majority ruling found that the need to protect the nation during a time of war from espionage and treason outweighed the individual rights of Japanese citizens and American citizens of Japanese descent.

The Supreme Court case, Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), relates to the Congressional power to exclusively regulate interstate commerce. Specifically it states that this power, granted to Congress in the Constitution, included the power to regulate commerce along rivers.

Mapp v. Ohio (1961) ruled that state law agencies could not use any evidence in state courts that had been collected in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s protection against "unreasonable searches and seizures."

In the Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court ruled that the state governments were legally bound by the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to provide legal counsel to a defendant who could not afford one. In doing so, they overturned a previous Supreme Court ruling in Betts v. Brady, which had stated that these rights did not always apply at the state level.

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) relates to the Second Amendment’s protection of an American citizen's’ right to carry a firearm. The Court ruled that the Second Amendment allows an American citizen to carry a firearm in a Federal enclave, or in his or her own private property.

In 1816, Congress wanted to create a national bank in the United States. However, many states disagreed with this decision because creating a national bank led to economic depression. Thus, Maryland passed laws placing a tax on the bank, but a cashier with the bank (James McCulloch) refused to pay the tax. When this case reached the Supreme Court, the Court decided that although the Constitution did not explicitly allow Congress to create a national bank, it did allow Congress to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers," a clause found in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. This is known as the "necessary and proper" clause, allowing the federal government to create the bank.

Marbury v. Madison created judicial review. Miranda v. Arizona created Miranda rights. Both Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education involved the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Second Amendment protects the right of Americans to carry guns, so you have to determine which of these cases is related to gun rights. The Supreme Court case, District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), reaffirmed that an individual has the right to carry a weapon for self defense in their home, stating also that an individual has the right to carry a weapon in a federal enclave so long as it is within the law for them to do so.

All of these Courts are named after the Supreme Court Justice who was in charge at the time (as is the custom). The Warren Court, under Chief Justice Earl Warren (1953–1969) is generally considered to be the most famous for its liberal decisions. It was the Court during the Civil Rights Era and was active in the promotion of civil liberties and the extension of civil rights.

The Supreme Court case of Cooper v. Ohio (1958) revolved around the issue of segregation in the South, particularly the attempts by some Southern authorities to continue segregation even after the landmark ruling of Brown v. Board of Education. In Cooper v. Aaron, the Supreme Court ruled that the States were bound by the decisions of the Supreme Court and could not nullify the decisions of the Federal courts.

The Supreme Court case Barron v. Baltimore (1833) stated that the Bill of Rights does not specifically apply to the State governments and that the Court can find no constitutional reason to make it so. However, the Supreme Court case Gitlow v. New York (1925) held that the First Amendment applies equally to the State and Federal governments.

In McCulloch v. Maryland, the U.S. Supreme Court held that federal laws have supremacy over state laws, and that therefore the State of Maryland had no authority to interfere with or oppose the operations of a bank established by Congress.

In Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court defended the political speech and political contribution rights of corporations, unions, and not-for-profit organizations.

The Supreme Court case, Miller v. California (1973), centered around the distribution of pornographic material as means to advertise a business. The Court ruling was quite complicated. The Court first ruled that the publishing of extremely obscene material was not protected under the First Amendment, but the Court was uncomfortable undertaking any regulation of any form of expression, so tried to define the legal interpretation of obscenity. Probably the most important factor of it is whether the obscene material has “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value" (Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973)).

The Congressional power to regulate interstate commerce has been challenged consistently and often throughout American history. As new technology emerges that allows commerce to be conducted in different ways it is pretty much guaranteed that a court ruling will become necessary to reaffirm Congress’ sole right to regulate interstate commerce. Such as Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) after the invention of the steamboat required a ruling on Congress’ right to regulate interstate commerce along a river.

The case of Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire arose when Walter Chaplinsky was arrested for making threatening and offensive comments directed at the general population in New Hampshire. He sued that his arrest was a violation of his First Amendment right to free speech and the case went to the Supreme Court. The court determined that Chaplinsky had forfeited his right to free speech by using “obscene, slanderous, and fighting” language. The case established that there are limits to the First Amendment guarantee of free speech.

The court case Gregg v. Georgia (1976) established that a convicted criminal could be executed under the death penalty without protection from the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

The Supreme Court case McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) upheld the Federal government's right to create a national bank. The case is related to the implied powers, or loose constructionist, interpretation of the Constitution. Essentially, this interpretation grants the government powers that are not specifically outlined in the Constitution.

The Supreme Court case, Barron v. Baltimore, occurred in 1833. In this case, the Court established that the Bill of Rights, specifically the Fifth Amendment, did not apply to states.

Engel v. Vitale (1962) established that it was a violation of the First Amendment for a state or an organization to require students in a public school to recite a prayer that favored one religion over another.