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Marbury v. Madison
(1803)
Question: Do the plaintiffs have a right to receive their commissions?
The Court found that Madison’s refusal to deliver the commission was illegal, but did not order Madison to hand over Marbury’s commission via writ of mandamus. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
(1857)
Question: Was Dred Scott free or a slave?
The majority held that “a negro, whose ancestors were imported into [the U.S.], and sold as slaves,” whether enslaved or free, could not be an American citizen and therefore did not have standing to sue in federal court. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
(1896)
Question: Does the Separate Car Act violate the Fourteenth Amendment?
The Court held that the state law was constitutional. In an opinion authored by Justice Henry Billings Brown, the majority upheld state-imposed racial segregation. -
Korematsu v. United States
(1944)
Question: Did the President and Congress go beyond their war powers by implementing exclusion and restricting the rights of Americans of Japanese descent?
In an opinion written by Justice Black, the Court ruled that the evacuation order violated by Korematsu was valid. -
Mapp v. Ohio
(1961)
Question: Were the confiscated materials protected from seizure by the Fourth Amendment?
In an opinion authored by Justice Tom C. Clark, 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. -
Gideon v. Wainwright
(1963)
Question: Does the Sixth Amendment's right to counsel in criminal cases extend to felony defendants in state courts?
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. -
Buckley v. Valeo
(1976)
Question: Did the limits placed on electoral expenditures by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, and related provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, violate the First Amendment's freedom of speech and association clauses?
First, it held that restrictions on individual contributions to political campaigns and candidates did not violate the First Amendment. Second, the Court found that governmental restriction of independent expenditures in campaigns. -
Lawrence v. Texas
(2003)
Question: Do the criminal convictions of John Lawrence and Tyron Garner under the Texas "Homosexual Conduct" law violate the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of equal protection of laws?
The Court held that the Texas statute making it a crime for two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct violates the Due Process Clause. -
District of Columbia v. Heller
(2008)
Question: Do the provisions of the District of Columbia Code that restrict the licensing of handguns and require licensed firearms kept in the home to be kept nonfunctional violate the Second Amendment?
The ban on registering handguns and the requirement to keep guns in the home disassembled or nonfunctional with a trigger lock mechanism violate the Second Amendment. -
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commision
(2010)
Question: Did the Supreme Court's decision in McConnell resolve all constitutional as-applied challenges to the BCRA when it upheld the disclosure requirements of the statute as constitutional?
The Supreme Court overruled Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce and portions of McConnell v. FEC.