Supreme Court Cases Review!

Year	Court Case	Summary
1803	Marbury v. Madison	John Adams was attempting to sway the court in his favor before James Madison took over as President Adams promised William Marbury a justice position but Marbury never received his commision He requested it of Madison, as the newly inaugurated President and Madison refused to give it to him The Supreme Court cannot make a ruling because that power lies in judicial review
1810	Fletcher v. Peck	The state of Georgia was in need of money, so officials sold off large amounts of land for almost nothing It was discovered later that these cheap grants were the result of bribery on the part of the legislature Can the government take this land away from those who had no part in the scandal and now live there? The Supreme Court ruled that the land holders had the right to own private property without government intrusion → Contract Clause: No state can pass a law infringing on a contract
1819	McCulloch v. Maryland	The state of Maryland is in opposition to the existence of the 2nd Bank of the United States (which was government created but was not a private bank), so the state wanted to pass a severe tax on it Can a state pass a tax on a government created bank? The court ruled that the government holds absolute power over the states, and more specifically to direct commerce. This opened up the possibility that the gov. could make a decision for the nation regarding slavery
1832	Worcester v. Georgia	Worcester, an advocate of Native American Sovereignty, came up in court against the state of Georgia in order to advocate for the Cherokee peoples’ right to their land. The court ruled that the Cherokees had sovereign rights (as though they were a nation separate from the United States and not subject to the same legislation), and should have their land (a ruling with the state of Georgia did not honor).
1857	Dred Scott v. Sandford	Dred Scott was a slave who had been taken by his “owners” to a free state, and so tried to sue for his freedom The court ruled that the federal government has no power over this matter as it was one of private property (the property being Mr. Scott), and that they cannot even truly asses Scott’s case because he was a slave rather than a citizen.
1877	Munn v. Illinois	Argument  that corporations cannot be deprived of their property, as though they were individuals and had individual rights Court ruled that corporations are created in the public interest, so federal laws could be made to regulate them.
1886	Wabash v. Illinois	Argument that corporations should have equal treatment under the law, just as individuals do Court rules that under the 14th Amendment, the rights and equal treatment of corporations must be recognized under the law, as though they are citizens
1894	Plessy v. Ferguson	Louisiana segregated its railways system into “white” and “colored” sections Homer Plessy refused to move into the “colored” car and was arrested, arguing for his equality under the rights granted to him by the 14th Amendment The court ruled in favor of racial segregation, stating that separate could still be considered equal
1904	Lochner v. New York	The State of New York wanted to impose a 60 hour work week for bakers Joseph Lochner refused to adhere to this law, claiming that it was attempting to regulate the employer employee relationship The court ruled to abolish the hour regulation
1918	Adkins v. Children Hospital	Congress had imposed a minimum wage law for women and children in Washington D.C. The law was challenged for interfering in the ability of employers and employees to go into contracts (5th Amendment) The Court ruled that the minimum wage law was unconstitutional because it would require a dangerous expansion of the police force to enforce
1925	Scopes (Monkey) Trial	Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution in a public school It grew into an argument between the teaching of Biblical intelligent design and the teaching of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution The Supreme Court ruled that Scopes was not permitted to teach evolution and fined him $100
1936	West Coast Hotel v. Parrish	Parrish received payment below what the minimum wage law dictated for her work   Her employer argued that the minimum wage law violated employer/employee liberty of contract in the 5th Amendment Court ruled in favor of Parrish and the minimum wage law → Constitutional Revolution of 1937 - The Supreme Court began to see it as its duty to allow the government to protect the people
1939	Minersville v. Gobitis	Jehovah’s Witnesses were expelled from their public school in Pennsylvania for not saluting the American flag because it was against their religion was it the court’s place to assert the constitutionality of the law (in reference to the 1st and 14th Amendments)? The supreme court ruled that because mandatory flag salutations in public schools had been voted upon in Pennsylvania, the court had no right to interfere in state voted upon legislation
1942	Barnette v. West Virginia	The State of West Virginia created legislation making the salute to the American flag mandatory in West Virginia public schools, and not adhering to this was chargable with expulsion Barnette opposed this legislation on the grounds of the 1st Amendment The court ruling overturned the case of Minersville v. Gobitis, stating that the court had the right to interfere in state legislation when it was in order to protect civil liberties → individual liberties protected over state legislation
1952	Brown v. Board of Education	Landmark civil rights case Argument for the desegregation of all public school system, because segregation of the school systems demonstrated unequal treatment based on race which violated the 14th Amendment The court ruled that separate was inherently unequal, overturning the previous ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, but desegregation, in the South especially, was stalled by the vague phrase in the ruling: “with all deliberate speed”.
1962	Gideon v. Wainwright	Clarence Gideon, a black man, was charged for a felony in the State of Florida, but was given no legal representation (as the 6th Amendment states will be provided), and so was imprisoned The court ruled in favor of Gideon, enforcing the idea that black individuals had protection under the Bill of Rights, and stating that there could be no representation in court without an attorney
1964	Griswold v. Connecticut	The case regarded married couples and their right to use birth control prescribed by a doctor Should the supreme court be protecting the rights of married couples to privacy based on constitutional implications over the regulations of a state? The court decided that a right to privacy was implicit in the other rights granted by the constitution, and therefore the rights of married couples to discuss birth control with their doctors is protected
	Miranda v. Arizona	Protection of 5th Amendment rights Argument for federally regulated trail standards: the reading out of rights, no coerced confession More federal control of state courts The Supreme Court ruled in favor of further government regulation and standards for court systems
1971	Roe v. Wade	Jane Roe, of Texas, wanted to be able to have an abortion, but the state prohibited it unless it would save the mother’s life She argued for protection under the Constitution for her right to choose abortion Fell in line with the Women’s Civil Liberties movement The court held that the right to abortion fell within a woman’s right to privacy (as seen in Griswold v. Connecticut), and so was protected under the Constitution and above state legislation
1977	Wainwright v. Sykes	Sykes claimed that he didn’t understand his right to be silent, so he appealed to the Supreme Court in order to argue for his freedom under the rights that were meant to be protected under the 5th Amendment and the regulations imposed by the Miranda v. Arizona ruling. The Supreme Court ruled that Sykes did not object on the day of his initial trial, and his failure to do so exempt him from any further consideration by the Supreme Court → He has to appeal to the state courts for reconsideration
2000	Bush v. Gore	The incredibly close vote in the presidential race, combined with general chaos, fraud, and absentee ballots, meant that the Supreme Court had to be brought in to help bring some order back to the election The Court ruled that it was Constitutional to regulate federally in this situation. So it took the ballot proceedings out of the hands of the State of Florida, in order to provide a higher level of regulation and create new election laws, this reversed the “let the states decide” attitude of previous decisions

Sources: http://www.oyez.org/cases/2014, Supreme Court Class Worksheets