Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Marbury v. Madison 1803 DECISION Established the concept of Judicial Review: the Supreme court has the final authority to find acts of government unconstitutional

Plessy v. Ferguson What happened: DECISION 14th Amendment (1896) Plessy (1/8 of African decent) sat in white only train car, would not move when asked DECISION Established the concept of “separate but equal” in public facilities 14th Amendment (1896)

Brown v. Board of Education What happened Mr. Brown wanted his daughter to attend the neighborhood school (she was black and the school was for whites) DECISION Schools were desegregated. Separate is unequal. Separate but equal has no place Integrated schools Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson 14th Amendment (1954)

Gideon v. Wainwright What happened DECISION 6th Amendment (1963) Gideon charged with crime, at that time in FL lawyers only given for death penalty and insanity cases, he had no money to pay a lawyer and was found guilty DECISION All accused persons are entitled to a lawyer, even if they cannot afford one. Right to Counsel Person must have counsel provided, regardless of the charges filed against them Gideon Rule 6th Amendment (1963)

Miranda v. Arizona What happened DECISION 5th Amendment (1966) Miranda arrested but not told his right against self-incrimination. He signed a confession and was convicted. DECISION A person must be read his or her rights before being arrested. When Ernesto Miranda was arrested and questioned and signed a confession that listed that he had “full knowledge of his legal rights”, he was not made aware of his rights to counsel and the confession was illegally gained. 5th Amendment (1966)

In re Gault What happened DECISION 14th Amendment – Due Process (1966) Sent to juvenile detention for an alleged obscene phone call, no lawyer, no witnesses DECISION Juveniles are provide due process as well as adults Prior to this ruling juvenile crimes were handled in family law, not criminal law 14th Amendment – Due Process (1966)

Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier What happened DECISION 1st Amendment (1988) Students wrote an article the principal would not allow to be published in the school newspaper DECISION Schools can filter or limit information that is placed into a school newspaper. This case allows school officials to have full control of school sponsored activities Activities can continue “so long as their actions are reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns 1st Amendment (1988)

U.S. vs. Nixon What happened DECISION One of Nixon’s campaign manager’s hired some men to break into the offices of the Democratic Party. Senate investigated and asked Nixon to turn over his taped conversations in his office. Nixon refused, claiming executive privilege (right to keep conversations private) DECISION Justices claimed executive privilege only applied to sensitive national security secrets & ordered him to turn over the tapes. They revealed he was involved in the cover-up. He resigned 4 days later. Rule of Law – No one is above the law. (1974)

Bush vs. Gore What happened DECISION 2000 Presidential election came down to Florida. Many of Florida’s ballots were damaged or not marked properly. The State Supreme Court ordered all ballots to be recounted, but the lawyers for Bush appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. DECISION Ordered recount to stop due to “minimal procedural safeguards” of the statewide recount. Article IV of U.S. Constitution (Relationship between State and Federal government) (2000)