1. APGOPO Required SCOTUS Cases
Stater

2. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
Essential Fact:
Maryland imposed a state tax on the United States National Bank located in that state; the bank’s cashier refused to pay it.
Constitutional Issue:
Whether the necessary and proper clause enabled the U.S. gov’t to create a national bank and whether Maryland had the right to tax it
Majority Decision:
SCOTUS ruled that a state did not have the right to tax a federal institution (Supremacy Clause)
Creating a national bank is not an enumerated power, but can be implied by the Necessary & Proper Clause (elastic clause – implied powers)
Strengthened power of the national government

3. United States v. Lopez (1995)
Essential Fact:
U.S. Congress passed the Gun-Free School Zone Safety Act, which made the possession of a gun within a thousand yards of a school a federal crime. Lopez was charged under this federal law after carrying a weapon into his Texas high school.
Constitutional Issue:
Did Congress overstep its commerce authority in Article I Section 8?
Majority Decision:
SCOTUS ruled that enforcement of such an act comes under state authority.
The federal act was an overreach of commerce power.
The case limited congressional power .

4. Engel v. Vitale (1962) Essential Fact: Constitutional Issue:
Students (and their parents) in a public school district refused to recite a nondenominational prayer. The state of New York created the voluntary prayer.
Constitutional Issue:
Whether the prayer violated the establishment clause of the 1st amendment
Majority Decision:
SCOTUS ruled that since a public institution developed the prayer and since it was to be used in a public school setting with mandatory attendance, the prayer violated the establishment clause.
Students may feel reluctant not to take part in a teacher-led activity. Also, the use of the word “God” is not nondenominational.

5. Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) Essential Fact: Constitutional Issue:
The state of Wisconsin had a law mandating school attendance for children 16 and under. Amish families refused to send their students to high school after the 8th grade, to keep them from exposure to values contrary to their religion and so they could learn a practical trade.
Constitutional Issue:
Did the state law violate the free exercise clause of the 1st Amendment?
Majority Decision:
SCOTUS ruled that a state could not force Amish students to attend school past the 8th grade because it violated the free exercise of religion.
Forcing the Amish to attend high school could interfere with their religious development, and stopping school early would not make them burdens on society.

6. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)
Essential Fact:
Students were suspended after being warned not to wear black armbands to school as a symbol of protest against the Vietnam War.
Constitutional Issue:
Did the school district violate the students’ free speech rights under the 1st Amendment, while using symbolic speech?
Majority Decision:
SCOTUS ruled that students’ rights aren’t “shed at the schoolhouse gates” and defined the students’ silent protest as “a legitimate form of symbolic speech.”
The facts of the case showed no disruption to school took place as a result of the armbands. Yes, the students’ constitutional rights were violated.

7. New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)
Essential Fact:
The NY Times wanted to print the Pentagon Papers, a secret study of the Vietnam War, and the US gov’t attempted to halt the publication (an action known as prior restraint), claiming that it would injure national security.
Constitutional Issue:
Was the NY Times protected by the 1st Amendment’s free-press clause even in a case where the gov’t declares the material to be essential to national security?
Majority Decision:
SCOTUS ruled that government did not have the right to prevent the paper from printing the information, as the gov’t had not met the burden of showing justification for imposing such a restraint.

8. Schenck v. United States (1919)
Essential Fact:
Schenck was convicted for violating the Espionage Act after distributing pamphlets discouraging people from complying with the draft. The gov’t was concerned about the Socialist Party’s questioning of the draft and war effort.
Constitutional Issue:
Did the government have the right to censor material in a time of national emergency, in accordance with the 1st amendment’s freedom of speech?
Majority Decision:
SCOTUS ruled that Schenck did not have the right to print, speak, and distribute material against U.S. efforts in World War I because a “clear and present danger” existed during wartime.
Speech may sometimes be limited during certain circumstances such as wartime.

9. Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) Essential Fact: Constitutional Issue:
Gideon robbed a pool hall and was not provided with an attorney by the local court in Florida. He was subsequently put on trial and had to defend himself.
Constitutional Issue:
Was Gideon denied his 6th Amendment right to have an attorney represent him?
Majority Decision:
SCOTUS ruled that states had to provide defense attorneys to all indigent (poor) defendants regardless of the severity of the crime, as defendants who can’t afford a lawyer cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided.
14th Amendment’s due process clause incorporates this right in the states.

10. Roe v. Wade (1973) Essential Fact: Constitutional Issue:
Petitioner “Roe” wanted to terminate her pregnancy through an abortion, but Texas law prohibited abortions unless a mother’s life is in danger.
Constitutional Issue:
Does Texas’s anti-abortion statute violate the due process clause of the 14th amendment and a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion?
Majority Decision:
Using the concept of being “secure in their persons,” SCOTUS ruled that abortions are constitutionally protected during the first trimester, but states can regulate abortions during the 2nd and 3rd.
The right to privacy has been established in prior SCOTUS cases as protected in the penumbras (shadows) of 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 9th amendments

11. McDonald v. Chicago (2010) Essential Fact: Constitutional Issue:
Chicago maintained its gun-control laws after SCOTUS ruled in Heller that the 2nd Amendment gave an individual the right to bear arms. The city refused to allow citizens to register handguns, creating an effective ban, which McDonald challenged, pointing to his need for self-defense in a crime-ridden neighborhood
Constitutional Issue:
Does the 2nd Amendment apply to the states, by way of the 14th Amendment’s due process clause, and thus prevent states from banning citizen ownership of handguns?
Majority Decision:
SCOTUS ruled that the 14th amendment makes the 2nd amendment’s right to bear arms fully applicable to the states, striking down Chicago’s law. The right to self defense is a fundamental right.

12. Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Essential Fact:
In Topeka, Kansas, African-American student Brown’s parents and others sued the school board in hopes of overturning the state’s segregation law.
Constitutional Issue:
Do state school segregation laws violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment?
Majority Decision:
SCOTUS ruled that a racially segregated system did damage to black children’s self-esteem, and that segregated schools were in practice unequal in resources and location. Violation of the equal protection clause.
The “separate but equal” doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson was effectively overturned (example of judicial activism – overturning precedent)

13. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)
Essential Fact:
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act prevented corporations from engaging in “electioneering communications” (mostly ads) 60 days before a general election. In 2008, conservative group Citizens United was prevented from airing Hillary: The Movie, but the group appealed to SCOTUS.
Constitutional Issue:
Does part of the BCRA violate the 1st Amendment’s free speech clause, and is a negative political documentary that never communicates an expressed plea to vote for or against a candidate subject to the BCRA?
Majority Decision:
SCOTUS ruled that part of BCRA violated the 1st Amendment’s free speech clause and that corporations, labor unions, and other organizations could use funds to endorse/denounce a candidate at any time, provided ads are not coordinated with any candidate. Limitations on this would amount to censorship of political speech.
Led to the formation of Super PACs, which can use unlimited “independent expenditures” to influence elections

14. Baker v. Carr (1961) Essential Fact:
Charles Baker challenged Tennessee’s apportionment law, claiming that when reapportionment was done by the state legislature, it did not take into account population shifts from rural areas to the city, effectively favoring rural areas. The state basically failed to redraw voting districts for 60 years, giving more weight to votes of rural citizens.
Constitutional Issue:
Can the Supreme Court render judgment on the constitutionality of legislative districts/state apportionment procedures?
Majority Decision:
SCOTUS ruled that this matter was justiciable (able to be decided in the courts), and ruled that the Court can intervene when states do not follow constitutional principles in defining political borders, since those practices undermine the democratic ideal of an equal voice for all voters (one person, one vote).

15. Shaw v. Reno (1993) Essential Fact:
North Carolina created gerrymandered majority-minority districts containing more black than white residents, to ensure that a black candidate would win those districts. 5 white individuals brought suit, suggesting the effort came as a result of separating citizens into classes by race in order to form the districts.
Constitutional Issue:
Does a congressional district, designed for the purposes of assuring a majority black population, violate the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause?
Majority Decision:
SCOTUS ruled in favor of Shaw (one of the white individuals), stating that race could not be used as the only factor in drawing a district. This violated the 14th Amendment by separating citizens into classes without the justification of a compelling state interest.

16. Marbury v. Madison (1803) Essential Fact:
William Marbury was denied a presidential appointment, made by John Adams and confirmed by the Senate, because the new president’s secretary of state, James Madison, refused to deliver the appointment to the new president (Jefferson).
Marbury brought the case to SCOTUS because of language in the Judiciary Act of 1789 that defined the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction in cases like these.
Constitutional Issue:
Can SCOTUS declare a legislative act unconstitutional because of its requirement to bring the case to the Supreme Court using the original jurisdiction doctrine?
Majority Decision:
SCOTUS ruled that Marbury had the right to sue after being denied his appointment as a judge. However, they also ruled that the section of the Judiciary Act that entitled him to the job, violated article III of the Constitution because it decided the court’s jurisdiction (only the Constitution can do that).
Established the principle of judicial review by declaring the congressional law unconstitutional