Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Marbury v Madison, 1803 Midnight Appointments – Court Appointments by John Adams Established the power of Judicial Review 1 st time that something is declared “unconstitutional” Made the Judicial Branch equal in power with the other two branches

Roe v Wade, 1973 Legalized abortions for women who are in their 1 st or 2 nd trimester of a pregnancy. VERY controversial still State’s have varying stipulations that they put on the procedure. (i.e. later-term abortions, methods, etc.) “Right to privacy under the due-process clause of the 14 th Amendment”

Tinker v Des Moines, 1969 Students were wearing black arm bands to protest the war in Vietnam. “interfere with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school." Free Speech – 1 st Amendment – can be limited in the school-setting – IF it might “interfere with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school."

Miranda v Arizona, 1966 Rights of the Accused You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense. Suspect signed plea without knowing his rights in the Constitution Basis: 5 th (self-incrimination) / 6 th (right to counsel) Amendments Miranda was retried (w/o the signed confession) and still found guilty – went to jail; was paroled – then he was stabbed in a bar fight THIS CHANGED LAW-ENFORCEMENT FOREVER

Regents of University of Calf. v Bakke, 1978 Used to combat reverse discrimination Bakke was a qualified candidate for medical school but was rejected so that a minority (with lesser credentials) could be selected Supreme Court ruled (under the 14 th Amendment (equality under the law) that schools could not make decisions based on skin color.

Plessy v Ferguson, 1896 Allowed for segregation in public places As long as the facilities are “equal” they can be “separate.” “Separate but equal” was overturned by Brown in 1954.

Brown v BOE Topeka, 1954 Overturned Plessy v Ferguson (separate but equal) Said that under the 14 th Amendment (equal protection clause) that schools for black students and schools for white students were not Constitutional Ended racial segregation in public schools (legally, did not end it in actuality) TRIVIA – Thurgood Marshall argued this case for Brown)

Texas v Johnson, 1989 Johnson was burning a flag outside the RNC in Big Deal: 1 st Amendment reached to NON-speech…their interpretation was that demonstrations/actions are form of expression Numerous amendments have been proposed, none have passed

New Jersey v T.L.O., 1985 TLO was caught smoking, a search led to finding marijuana and drug paraphernalia She claimed that her 4 th amendment was violated COURT SAID: A child's legitimate expectation of privacy and the school's interest in maintaining order and discipline may differ – in that situation the school comes out on top. According to school officials, they do require a "reasonable suspicion" to perform a search. Milton can search if they "have reasonable grounds to believe that a student possesses evidence of illegal activity or activity that would interfere with school discipline and order."