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West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette
The West Virginia Board of Education required public schools to include salutes to the flag by teachers and students. Children in a family of Jehovah's Witnesses refused to salute the flag and were sent home for non-compliance. The Court ruled that forcing children to salute the flag violated the First Amendment. -
Mapp v. Ohio
Dollree Mapp was convicted of posessing obscene materials after her home was illegally searched by police for a fugitive. The Court declared that all evidence obtained by searches in violation of the Fourth Amendment is inadmissible in court. -
Engel v. Vitale
The New York State Board of Regents authorized a voluntary prayer at the start of each school day. A group of organizations joined together to challenge the prayer, claiming that it violated the First Amendment. The New York Court of Appeals rejected their arguments. -
Gideon v. Wainwright
Clarence Gideon was charged in Florida state court with breaking and entering. Gideon appeared in court without a lawyer and requested one to be appointed to him. Gideon was found guilty and sentenced to prison. The Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of a right to assistance of counsel applies to criminal defendants in state court by way of the Fourteenth Amendment. -
NY Times v. Sullivan
During the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, the New York Times published an ad for contributing donations to defend Martin Luther King Jr. on perjury charges. The ad contained several inaccuracies. The city Public Safety Commissioner, L.B. Sullivan, felt that the criticism of his subordinates reflected on him, even though he was not mentioned in the ad. Sullivan requested the Times to retract the information, and they refused. The Jury agreed with Sullivan, and the Times appealed. -
Griswold v. Connecticut
A gynecologist named C. Lee Buxton challenged a Connecticut law that prevented the use of contraception. They were arrested and won their court case. The Court ruled that te Constitution did protect the right of marital privacy, and the state law was held null and void. -
Miranda v. Arizona
Four different cases are represented in this case, in each of which the defendant confessed guilt after being interrogated without being informed of his Fifth Amendment rights. Ernesto Miranda was arrested in his house and brought to the police station, where he was questioned by police officers. Miranda wrote a confession that admitted into evidence despite not having been informed Miranda of his right to have an attorney present during the interrogation. The Jury found Miranda guilty. -
Loving v. Virginia
Two Virginia residents, Mildred Jeter, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were married in the District of Columbia. The couple was charged with violating the state's antimiscegenation statute when they returned home, which banned inter-racial marriages. The Lovings were found guilty and sentenced to a year in jail.The Court rejected the state's argument and ruled the law as racial discrimination, and that it violated the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Tinker v. Des Moines
In December, a group of students in Des Moines held a meeting in the home of a 16-year-old Christopger Eckhardt to plan a public showcase of their support for a truce in the Vietnam War. The principals of the Des Moines school learned of the plan and created a policy that forced students to remove the armband, or les they would be suspended. The students who wore black armbands were sent home, and sued the school district. The Court ruled that the ban on armbands violated the first Amendment. -
Brandenburg v. Ohio
Brandenburg, a leader in the KKK, made a speech at a Klan rally and was later convicted under Ohio law. The law made advocation for crime and violence illegal. He challenged Ohio's criminal syndicalism law and claimed that it violated his right to free speech as stated by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The Court ruled that the Ohio law violated Brandenburg's right to free speech, and failed to stand because it violated the Constitution. -
NY Times v. US
The Nixon administration tried to prevent the New York Times and Washington Post from publishing classified materials belonging to the Defense Department regarding the history of Vietnam activity. The Court ruled that Nixon could not prevent the publication of the classified information because it violated the First Amendment in terms of freedom of press. -
Lemon v. Kurtzman
Both Pennsylvania and Rhode Island adopted statutes that provided payment for non-secular, non-public education. The appellants in the Pennsylvania case represented citizens and taxpayers in PA who believed that the statute violated the separation of church and state mentioned in the First Amendment. -
Roe v. Wade
Jane Roe filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas, where she lived, and challenged a law that made abortion legal only if it was to save a woman's life. Roe alleged that the state laws violated her personal right to privacy, protected by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments. The Texas law was ruled to be a violation of this right, and The Court decided that the state may regulate abortion that are reasonably related to health. -
Furman v. Georgia
Furman was robbing a home when a family member found him. He attempted to flee and fell to the ground. The gun he was carrying went off and killed a resident of the home. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The Court's opinion stated that the imposition of the death penalty in this kind of case was cruel and unusual punishment. -
Gregg v. Georgia
Gregg was found guilty of armed robbery and murder and was sentenced to death. On appeal, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence, and Gregg challenged his sentence, claiming it was cruel and unusual punishment that violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The Court ruled that a the punishment of death did not violate the Amendments under all circumstances. -
New Jersey v. TLO
TLO was a high school student who had her purse searched by school officials. She was charged with possession of marijuana, and she attempted to suppress evidence discovered in the search, but she was denied in her motion. She was sentenced to probation for one year. The rule of the Fourth Amendment applies to searches and seizures conducted by school officials in public schools. -
Employment Division v. Smith
Smith and Black were fired by a private drug rehabilitation organization because they ingested peyote, a hallucinogenic drug, for sacramental purposes at a ceremony of their Native American Church. The respondents' claim for a religious exemption was denied due to the drugs being illegal regardless of religious beliefs. -
Church of Lukumi Babalu v. Hialeah
The Church of Lukumi Bablu Aye practice the Afro-Caribbean religion of Santeria. Santeria utilized animal sacrifice as a form of worship. The city council ordinances attempted to prohibit the possession of animals for sacrifice or slaughter but were denied from doing so due to the fact that they had singled out the Santeria faith, and had no right to repress religious beliefs. -
Texas v Johnson
Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag as a means of protest against Reagan's policies. Johnson was arrested and convicted under a texas law outlawing flag desecration. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction, and the Court held that Johnson's actions were indeed protected by the First Amendment. -
Morse v. Frederick
At a supervised school event, Joseph Frederick held up a banner that read "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." Principal Deborah Morse took away the banner and suspended Frederick for ten days, justifying her actions by stating the policy against the promotion of illegal drugs in the school. Frederick sued, claiming that his First Amendment right to free speech had been violated. The Court ruled that public schools could prohibit students from promoting illegal drugs in school-supervised events. -
DC v. Heller
In DC, it was illegal to carry an unregistered firearm and prohibited the registration of handguns, though the chief of police could issue one-year licenses for handguns. Dick Anthony Heller was a DC special police officer who was authorized to carry a handgun while on duty. He wished to keep a handgun to keep at home, but his application to register one was denied. He sued DC, claiming that his Second Amendment rights had been violated. The Court ruled that the ban violated the 2nd Amendment. -
McDonald v. Chicago
Lawsuits were filed against Chicago and Oak Park in Illinois that challenged their guns bans after the Supreme Court decided its opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller. The court dismissed the lawsuits, and on appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed. -
Snyder v. Phelps
The family of deceased Marine Lance Matthew Snyder filed a lawsuit against members of the Westboro Baptist Church who picketed at his funeral. The family accused the church of defamation and the intentional infliction of emotional distress for displaying homophobic signs at Snyder's funeral. The church members' speech was protected, despite the awful nature of the words they used. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Same-sex couples sued their state agencies to challenge the bans on same-sex marriage. They argued that the statutes violated the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court was in favor of the plaintiffs and ruled that the states were required to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and also recognize their marriage as legal. -
Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L.
B.L. was a student at Mahanoy Area High School who tried out for and failed to make the varsity cheerleading team. Over the weekend away from school, she posted on Snapchat with an angry caption, giving her opinion on the school's choice and how angry she was at the school for denying her. The coaches suspended her from the junior varsity team for a year, and she sued the school for violating her First Amendment right. The Court ruled that the school couldn't take away her freedom of speech.
