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Marbury v. Madison
This supreme court case had the ruling that William Marbury should not get the job as Justice of the Peace of Columbia, a job he was appointed to by John Adams. Marbury sued James Madison, Jefferson's secretary of state, for his commison, but the lawsuit was dismissed. The supreme court also ruled that the Supreme Court alone had the last word on the question of constiutionality, giving the Supreme Court their tremendous power on American life. -
McCulloch v. Maryland
In this supreme court case, the state of Maryland attempted to destroy a branch of the Bank of the United States by imposing a tax on its notes. The supreme court ruled the bank constitutional by invoking the doctrine of implied powers and also denied the right of Maryland to tax the bank. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Supreme Court case in which it was ruled that segregation in the public schools was "inherently unequal" and thus unconstitutional. This court decision reversed the court's earlier decision in the Plessy vs Ferguson supreme court case of 1896. -
Cooper v. Aaron
The Governor and the Legislature of Arkansas openly resisted the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education. They refused to obey court orders designed to implement school desegregation. Local officials delayed plans to do away with segregated public facilities -
Mapp v. Ohio
Dollree Mapp was convicted of possessing obscene materials after an admittedly illegal police search of her home for a fugitive. She appealed her conviction on the basis of freedom of expression. -
Engle v. Vitale
In this supreme court case, the supreme court voted againist required prayers and Bible readings in public schools. This ruling was based on the first amendment, the seperation of church and state. This decision was also reflected in the 1963 supreme court case of School District of Abington Township vs Schempp. -
Gideon v. Wainwright
This supreme court case said that all defendents in serious criminal cases were entitled to legal counsel, even if they were too poor to afford it. -
Miranda v. Arizona
This supreme court case ensured the right of the accused to remain silent and enjoy the other protections when accused of a crime. This decision was also relfected in the supreme court case Escobedo vs Illinois in 1964. -
Terry v. Ohio
Terry and two other men were observed by a plain clothes policeman in what the officer believed to be "casing a job, a stick-up." The officer stopped and frisked the three men, and found weapons on two of them. Terry was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon and sentenced to three years in jail. -
Tinker v. Des Moines
In 1965, John Tinker, his sister Mary Beth, and a friend were sent home from school for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. The school had established a policy permitting students to wear several political symbols, but had excluded the wearing of armbands protesting the Vietnam War. Their fathers sued, but the District Court ruled that the school had not violated the Constitution. and the Tinkers appealed to the Supreme Court.In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled for Tinkers. -
U.S v. Nixon
A grand jury returned indictments against seven of President Richard Nixon's closest aides in the Watergate affair. The special prosecutor appointed by Nixon and the defendants sought audio tapes of conversations recorded by Nixon in the Oval Office. Nixon asserted that he was immune from the subpoena claiming "executive privilege," which is the right to withhold information from other government branches to preserve confidential communications within the executive branch or to secure the nation -
Goss v. Lopez
Nine students at two high schools and one junior high school in Columbus, Ohio, were given 10-day suspensions from school. The principals did not hold hearings for the affected students before ordering the suspensions, and Ohio law did not require them to do so. The principals' actions were challenged, and a federal court found that the students' rights had been violated. The case was appealed to Supreme Court. -
Irving ISD v. Tatro
legal case involving a young 8 year old girl who was in need of CIC (clean intermittent catheterisation) during school hours due to her spina bifida. The school refused and the case was taken all the way to the supreme court. The court ruled that the school must provide these services under the special education laws that require related services to be given to a child when these services are needed for the child to get a free, appropriate public education. -
New Jersey v. TLO
T.L.O. was a fourteen-year-old; she was accused of smoking in the girls' bathroom of her high school. A principal at the school questioned her and searched her purse, yielding a bag of marijuana and other drugs. The rolling papers in the purse gave rise to a reasonable suspicion in the principal's mind that she may have been carrying drugs, thus, justifying a more thorough search of the purse. -
Bethel School District #43 v. Fraser
At a school assembly of 600 high school students, Matthew Fraser made a speech nominating a fellow student for elective office. In his speech, Fraser used what some observers believed was a graphic sexual metaphor to promote the candidacy of his friend. As part of its disciplinary code, Bethel High School enforced a rule prohibiting conduct which "substantially interferes with the educational process including the use of obscene, profane language or gestures." Fraser was suspended for 2 days. -
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier
The Spectrum, the school-sponsored newspaper of Hazelwood East High School, was written and edited by students. In May 1983, Robert E. Reynolds, the school principal, received the pages proofs for the May 13 issue. Reynolds found two of the articles to be inappropriate, and ordered that the pages on which the articles appeared be withheld from publication. Cathy Kuhlmeier and two former Hazelwood East students brought the case to court. -
Texas v. Johnson
In 1984, in front of the Dallas City Hall, Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag as a means of protest against Reagan administration policies. Johnson was tried and convicted under a Texas law outlawing flag desecration. He was sentenced to one year in jail and assessed a $2,000 fine. After the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction, the case went to the Supreme Court -
Santa Fe ISD v. Doe
Prior to 1995, a student elected as Santa Fe High School's student council chaplain delivered a prayer, described as overtly Christian, over the public address system before each home varsity football game. One Mormon and one Catholic family filed suit challenging this practice and others under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
