AP GOV - Supreme Court Cases

1. AP GOV - Supreme Court Cases For more info go to Supreme Court cases is Oyez.org

2. Marbury v. Madison1803 Background : Midnight judges, appointed by John Adams did not receive their appointments. Marbury petitioned the Supreme Court to order Madison to deliver the documents. Court Decision: Chief Justice Marshall states that the appointments can be blocked based on the premise that the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional. The Court established its power to interpret the Constitution = Judicial Review

3. McCulloch v. Maryland 1819 Background: In an attempt to interfere with the operations of the Bank of the United States, Maryland passed a tax on the bank. Court Decision: The power to tax is the power to destroy! Establishes national supremacy and implied powers. Permitted the use of the elastic clause (Necessary-and-proper clause - I;8;8) and denied the ability of states to tax federal institutions.

4. Gibbons v. Ogden 1824 Background: WARNING! This one is ugly….. Ogden obtained an exclusive license to run a steamship line within NY, Gibbons obtained a license from Congress to run a steamship from New Jersey to New York. Ogden petitioned the court to stop Gibbons ships. Court Decision: The court finds that the NY law was unconstitutional because Commerce Clause (I;8;3) give Congress the power to regulate interstate trade. Finding actually expands the power of the Commerce Clause.

5. Roe v. Wade1973 Using the 9th and 14th Amendments to justify a woman’s right to privacy, the Supreme Court set up the guidelines in which the state can regulate abortions. States may not interfere with abortion in the 1st trimester States may regulate to protect the health of the mother in the 2nd trimester State may regulate to protect the health of the child in the 3rd trimester. * Norma McCorvey (a.k.a. Jane Roe) had attempted to receive an abortion in Texas, a state that only allowed abortions in the cases of incest and rape. The baby was born before the case was heard in the Supreme Court.

6. Schenck v. US1919 Charles Schenck, the Secretary of the Socialist Party of America, was charged and convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 for printing and distributing pamphlets suggesting army draftees stand up against the army. The conviction stood and the court established an additional limit on free speech, especially in wartime. Oliver Wendell Holmes "Clear and present danger"

7. Engel v. Vitale 1962 Prohibited state-sponsored recitation of prayer in public schools by virtue of the 1st amendment establishment clause and the 14th Amendment due process clause. Warren Court activism. The case was brought to a New York court by the parents who opposed voluntary prayer to the “Almighty God” in the school.

8. Near vs. Minnesota 1929 1st Amendment protects newspapers from prior restraint. Laws must allow newspapers to publish. Jay Near published a scandal sheet in Minneapolis charging local officials with having connections to gangsters. Officials reacted by placing a gag rule on anyone publishing this type of journalism.

9. NY Times vs. Sullivan1964 A full page ad was taken out in the NY Times stating that claimed that the arrest of MLK Jr was an attempt destroy the civil rights leader’s campaign. Sullivan, the Montgomery City Commissioner sued for libel. Statements about public figures are libelous only if made with malice and reckless disregard for the truth. Malice is specifically defined in this case as a person knowingly publishing a falsehood, by the theory that only a malicious person would knowingly publish a falsehood.