COURT CASESUnit 3
MARBURY V. MADISON (1803) Marbury appointed as
Justice of the Peace New Sec. of State
(Madison) refused to deliver commission
Court ruled Madison must deliver commission
Precedent: Supreme Court has power of Judicial Review
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)•Maryland tries to tax Banks of the US•Maryland Claimed Bank Unconstitutional•Court Ruled:• Congress has Implied Powers• “Necessary and Proper”
•When Fed. and State Laws contradict Fed. Law is supreme
GIBBONS V. OGDEN (1824)
N.Y. Passed law limiting traffic in N.Y. Harbor
N.J. boat companies sue
Precedent: Federal Gov. not states has the power to regulate interstate trade
BARRON V. BALTIMORE (1833)
City of Baltimore diverted streams to help construction
Barron sued because this hurt his wharf business
President: The Bill of Rights does not apply to the states
GITLOW V. NY (1925)
Gitlow a socialist was charged with criminal anarchy under NY law for his writings
Precedent: The Bill of Rights applies to states through the “Due Process Clause” of the 14th Amendment
Did not incorporate them all. They will be incorporated one at a time
GIDEON V. WAINWRIGHT (1963)
Gideon convicted of a crime but did not have a lawyer
Precedent at the time was lawyers were only provided for capital cases
Precedent: Right to council is a fundamental right. (A lawyer must be provided if accused cannot afford one)
MIRANDA V. ARIZONA (1966)
Miranda arrested for kidnapping and rape
Miranda confessed Miranda not told of
his right to counsel and right to remain silent
Precedent: No confession can be admissible unless accused is made aware of his rights Miranda Rights
FURMAN V. GEORGIA (1972) Furman Convicted of murder Georgia was carrying out death
penalties inconsistently Precedent: Death penalty is not Cruel
and Unusual punishment unless it is applied inconsistentlyDeath penalty cases in Georgia put on
hold
GREGG V. GEORGIA Defendants wanted to expand Furman
and eliminate death penalty Precedent: death penalty not cruel and
unusual as long as it is applied without prejudice
ROE V. WADE (1973) Women in Texas
wanted abortion Texas law
outlawed abortion Precedent: The
14th Amendments right to privacy extends to a women's bodyAbortions are legal
SEGREGATION
PLESSY V. FERGUSON (1896) Train Cars segregated by race Precedent: Separate but equal
segregation is legalSet the stage for more segregation moving
forward
BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION (1954) Topeka, Kansas schools were segregated Sometime the closest school was not
the one you went to Precedent: Separate is inherently
unequalSegregation illegal
SWANN V CMS 1970 How do you desegregate schools? Question: Were federal courts
constitutionally authorized to oversee and produce remedies for state-imposed segregation?
Precedent: Schools must be desegregated based on region but busing for desegregation could not be mandated by courts
LEANDRO V. NORTH CAROLINA (1994) Low income communities sued North
Carolina on the basis that the school districts needed more money from the state because the districts could not raise the money on their own
Precedent: The state must provide basic education for all students but not same amount of money to all districts
This was not a US Supreme Court Case on NC Supreme Court
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
BAKKE V. REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Bakke a marine veteran applied to med-
school Scored in top 3% on his exams Had an above average GPA
Denied Entrance to Medical School People he was more qualified then made it in
Bakke a white man claimed he was denied because the school reserved 12 spots for minorities
Precedent: Race can be a minor factor in admittance but it can not be the only factor Quota system is illegal
TIMED WRITING (15 MINUTES) Write a body paragraph about one of
the court cases we learned yesterday answering the following question
“Over the years has the court increased or decreased equality through their rulings”
Be sure to include:A statement about the caseFacts of the casePrecedentHow the precedent ties into statement
1ST AMENDMENT ISSUES
ENGLE V VITALE (1962) Students in a school recited a voluntary
prayer to God at the start of each school day
Question: Does the reading of a nondenominational prayer at the start of the school day violate the "establishment of religion" clause of the First Amendment?
Precedent: It is unconstitutional to have school sponsored prayer of any type in public schools
Question: Can students pray in schools?
TINKER V. DES MOINES ICSD (1968) Student in Des Moines ware armbands
to protest the Vietnam War Fearing disturbances schools asked
them to remove the armbands Question: Does a prohibition against the
wearing of armbands in public school, as a form of symbolic protest, violate the First Amendment's freedom of speech protections?
Precedent: While schools can limit freedom of expression, doing so in this case was unjustified
HAZELWOOD V. KUHLMEIER (1988) A school newspaper was found to have
inappropriate articles in it The principal told them to remove the
articles, students took it to court Question: Did the principal's deletion of
the articles violate the students' rights under the First Amendment?
Precedent: Schools can set higher standards of speechFreedom of speech is limited
TEXAS V. JOHNSON (1988) Texas man burns the US Flag in a form
of protest Texas arrests him Question: is the desecration of an
American flag, by burning or otherwise, a form of speech that is protected under the First Amendment?
Precedent: Burning the flag is symbolic speech and protected by the 1st Amendment
POWERS OF THE GOVERNMENT
US V. NIXON (1974) President Nixon refused to turn over
tapes of himself that dealt with the Watergate affair
Question: Is the President's right to safeguard certain information, using his "executive privilege" confidentiality power, entirely immune from judicial review?
Precedent: The president must turn over the tapesThe president is not immune from judicial
review
KOREMATSU V. US (1944) During WWII the government interned
Japanese Americans out of fear of espionage and sabotage
Question: Did the President and Congress go beyond their war powers by implementing exclusion and restricting the rights of Americans of Japanese descent?
Precedent: the public concern outweighed rights Infringement of rights is aloud during times
of “emergency and peril”
SLAVERY ISSUES
DRED SCOTT V. SANDFORD (1856) Dred Scott a slave lived in a free state
where slavery was forbidden then returned to Missouri (a state that aloud slavery)
Dred Scott sued for his freedom claiming because he lived in free state he was a free man
Precedent: Because Dred Scott was never freed he was still a slave and not a US citizen
NORTH CAROLINA V. MANN (1830) Mann a slave owner shot a slave who
struggled to escape whipping Mann charged with abuse and fined Precedent: the power of slave owners is
absolute over their slaves This was not a US Supreme Court Case
on NC Supreme Court
DUE PROCESS
IN RE GAULT (1966) A fifteen year old arrested for making
obscene phone calls Police arrested him and did not leave
notice for the parents Question: Were the procedures used to
commit Gault constitutionally legitimate under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?
Precedent: Police must notify parents of charges and rights of the accused