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1st- speech West Virginia State Board of Education V. Barnette
Court Ruling: the Supreme Court invalidated a compulsory flag salute law in public schools and established that students possess some level of First Amendment rights.
Why it matters: it protects students from having to say the pledge or salute the flag in school. -
4th amendment: Mapp V. Ohio
Court Ruling: The high court said evidence seized unlawfully, without a search warrant, could not be used in criminal prosecutions in state courts.
Why its important: the majority brushed aside First Amendment issues and declared that all evidence obtained by searches and seizures in violation of the Fourth Amendment is inadmissible in a state court. -
1st- Religion Engel V. Vitale
Court ruling: Public schools cannot require students to pray
Why it Matters: Protects religious beliefs of all students -
6th amendment: Gideon V. Wainright
Court ruling: the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Gideon, guaranteeing the right to legal counsel for criminal defendants in federal and state courts.
Why it matters: the Constitution requires the states to provide defense attorneys to criminal defendants charged with serious offenses who cannot afford lawyers themselves. -
1st- press Ny Times V. Sullivan
Court ruling: the freedom of speech protections in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution restrict the ability of American public officials to sue for defamation.
Why it matters: It showed how public officials and press acted with reckless disregard, and use media to exploit others. -
4th amendment: Grisworld V. Connecticut
Court ruling: the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects the liberty of married couples to buy and use contraceptives without government restriction
Why it matters: The government cannot create restrictions or bans on contraceptives used for safety. -
5th amendment: Miranda V. Arizona
Court ruling: the Supreme Court ruled that detained criminal suspects, prior to police questioning, must be informed of their constitutional right to an attorney and against self-incrimination.
Why it matters: an arrested individual is entitled to rights against self-discrimination and to an attorney under the 5th and 6th Amendments of the United States Constitution -
14th amendment: Loving V. Virginia
Court ruling: the Court ruled that laws banning interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Why it matters: By declaring Virginia's anti-miscegenation law unconstitutional, the Supreme Court ended prohibitions on interracial marriage and dealt a major blow to segregation. -
1st- speech Tinker V. Des Moines
Court Ruling: determined it was a First Amendment violation for public schools to punish students for expressing themselves.
Why it matters: students have a right to speech and should not be punished for expressing themselves in non-violent ways. -
1st- speech Bradenburg V. Ohio
Court ruling: the Supreme Court established that speech advocating illegal conduct is protected under the First Amendment unless the speech is likely to incite “imminent lawless action.”
Why it matters: Due to this speech, Brandenburg was charged for breaking the Ohio Criminal Syndicalism Act and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Brandenburg filed an appeal, claiming a violation of his First Amendment rights. -
1st- religion Lemon V. Kurtzman
Court ruling: cant use tax money to pay teachers salaries in private religious schools
Why it matters: upholds the establishment clause -
1st- press Ny Times V. US
Court ruling: the Court ruled that the President’s attempt to prevent the publication was a violation of First Amendment protections for press freedom.
Why it matters: By preventing the New York Times from publishing the material, the reporters' 1st Amendment rights were being violated. -
8th amendment: Furman V. Georgia
Court ruling: the death penalty was unconstitutional when applied in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner.
Why it matters: assures that the death penalty would not be administered in a capricious or discriminatory manner. -
4th amendment: Roe V. Wade
Court ruling: unduly restrictive state regulation of abortion is unconstitutional.
Why its important: The United States Constitution provides a fundamental "right to privacy" that protects a person's right to choose whether to have an abortion. -
8th amendment: Gregg V. Georgia
Court ruling:Georgia held that Georgia's death penalty statute was constitutional.
Why it matters: The Court claimed the statute did not constitute a "cruel and unusual" punishment and therefore did not violate the Eighth and Fourteenth amendments. -
4th amendment: New Jersey V. TLO
Court ruling: The Court held that the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures is not limited solely to the actions of law enforcement personnel.
Why it matters: Public school teachers act as agents of the state, and not merely agents of the students' parents. -
1st- speech Texas V. Johnson
Court Ruling: Flag burning constitutes symbolic speech that is protected by the First Amendment.
Why it matters: grounded the Texas desecration law and violates speech rights. -
1st-religion Employment Division V. Smith
Court ruling: the state could deny unemployment benefits to a person fired for violating a state prohibition on the use of peyote even though the use of the drug was part of a religious ritual.
Why it matters: Despite religious rituals, it upholds the state violations of denying working due to drug use. -
1st-religion Church of Lukumi Babalu V. Hialeah
Court Ruling: laws targeting specific religions violate the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.
Why it matters: the states cannot restrict religiously-mandated practices. -
1st-speech Morse V. Frederick
Court ruling:the First Amendment does not prevent educators from suppressing student speech that is reasonably viewed as promoting illegal drug use at or across the street from a school-supervised event.
Why it matters: implies the safety within the school system on prohibiting drug use, as well as promoting it on social media or on school properties. -
2nd amendment: DC V. Heller
Court ruling: the Supreme Court held that self-defense was the “central component” of the amendment and that the District of Columbia's “prohibition against rendering any lawful firearm in the home operable for the purpose of immediate self-defense” to be unconstitutional.
Why it matters: the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense in the home. -
2nd Amendment: McDonald V. Chicago
Court Ruling: the McDonald Court held that an individual's right to keep and bear arms is incorporated and applicable to the states through the 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause.
Why it is important: The Supreme Court reversed the Seventh Circuit, holding that the Fourteenth Amendment makes the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense applicable to the states. -
1st- speech Snyder V. Phelps
Court ruling: speech on a matter of public concern, on a public street, cannot be the basis of liability for a tort of emotional distress, even in the circumstances that the speech is viewed or interpreted as "offensive" or "outrageous"
Why it matters: views issues based on public concern and how it can be seen as offensive, more-so how to fix that instead of causing emotional distress. -
14th amendment: Obergefell V. Hodges
Court ruling: The Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees the right to marry as one of the fundamental liberties it protects
Why it matters: applies to same-sex couples in the same manner as it does to opposite-sex couples. -
1st- speech Mahaney Area School District V. B.L.
Court ruling: the Supreme Court held that a public school violated the First Amendment when it disciplined a student cheerleader for profane off-campus speech.
Why it matters: involving the ability of schools to regulate student speech made off-campus, including speech made on social media.