1. Supreme Court Cases

2. Marbury vs Madison Established Judicial review-which says the Supreme Court decided what’s constitutional or not It gave them Judicial Powers to Check and Balance the other branches It also said, they are not suppose to hear any case that does not violate peoples’ constitutional rights

3. Plessy vs Ferguson PLeSSy-two s’s = separate letters but equal Separate facilities (like schools) are legal as long as they are equal. It made discrimination based on race legal in the US

4. Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka It overturned (canceled) Plessy vs Ferguson in schools. The court said because African Americans are forced to go to separate schools they are made to think they are inferior and that is unequal It desegregated schools and allowed all races to join the same schools It extended the 14 th amendment of equal protection under the law

5. Gideon vs Wainwright The “G” looks like a “6”= and the 6 th amendment says you have a right to a lawyer in criminal cases Before this case you were only given a lawyer for cases like murder were the accused may be put to death In this case, the court decided that for all criminal cases, people are entitled to a lawyer. This way they can properly defend themselves

6. Miranda vs Arizona This case is important because it said that the police have to tell you your rights before they question you The Miranda Warning lets you know you have the right to remain silent Without it, some people might feel forced or confused into making a confession Reinstated the 5 th amendment

7. Miranda’s case and Gideon’s case expanded rights of accused people People found it controversial because they thought guilty people should not have expanded rights where they can be found not guilty because of a technicality Ex. Someone being found not guilty because the police didn’t read him his Miranda Rights

8. US vs Nixon When the court asked Nixon for his secret recordings he refused, saying he was president and needed to have secrets for the good of the country The court forced him to give his secret recordings that made him look guilty of spying on another party before an election It stated the president was not above the law or the court’s actions

9. Tinker vs Des Moines Students went to school and wore arm bands in protest of the Vietnam War, they were suspended. When they took their case to court, the court said that students have the right to freedom of speech

10. Hazelwood vs Kuhlmeir Restricted the Tinker case and said school newspapers can be restricted and censored Because it is a school newspaper it can be controlled by the administration. Freedom of the press does not apply to a school newspaper Basically, if the school doesn’t like it, go blog about it or put it on social media

11. Bush vs Nixon The 2000 election was the closest election. It came down to Florida and when George Bush was announced the winner, his challenger, Al Gore sued saying that their should be a recount The court said it was unconstitutional and Bush became president

12. Other decisions by the court Obtaining evidence illegally cannot be used in court because it violates the 4 th amendment of protection against unreasonable search and seizure Yelling “fire” in a theater and causing panic does not mean you are exercising your right to freedom of speech. You may be arrested and the court said your freedoms are not absolute