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West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette
The Respondent, Barnette, is a Jehovah's Witness who refused to pledge allegiance to the United States flag while in public school. Supreme Court ruled that compelling children in public schools to salute the U.S. flag was an unconstitutional violation of their freedom of speech and religion. Now people in the US have no requirement to pledge to the flag. -
Mapp v. Ohio
Mapp argued that her Fourth Amendment rights had been violated by a bomb suspect search in her house. Supreme Court case decided 6–3 by the Warren Court, in which it was held that Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures applied to the states and excluded unconstitutionally obtained evidence from use in state criminal prosecutions. Ohio (1961) strengthened the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. -
Engel v. Vitale
The case presented squarely the question of whether a public school could sanction classroom prayers at a time when America was increasingly pluralistic and secular. The court made a 6–1 decision for Engel prohibiting prayers in public schools, even if participation is not required and the prayer is not tied to a particular religion. The influence of religion in the educational environment became minuscule. -
Gideon v. Wainwright
Gideon was charged with breaking and entering a Panama City, Florida, pool hall and stealing money from the hall's vending machines. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Gideon, guaranteeing the right to legal counsel for criminal defendants in federal and state courts. Gideon v. Wainwright made an enormous contribution to the so-called "due process revolution" going on in the Court led by Chief Justice Warren. -
NY Times v. Sullivan
Sullivan sued the Times for defamation in the local Alabama county court. The Court held that the First Amendment protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press. This landmark decision constitutionalized libel law and arguably saved the civil rights movement. -
Griswold v. Connecticut
The case was over a Connecticut law that banned the use of any contraception for married couples which received multiple legal challenges prior to this case. In a 7-2 decision authored by Justice Douglas, the Court ruled that the Constitution did in fact protect the right of marital privacy against state restrictions on contraception. It essentially paved the road for the reproductive privacy and freedoms that are in place today. -
Miranda v. Arizona
Ernesto Miranda was identified in a police lineup by a woman, who accused him of kidnapping and raping her. Miranda was arrested and questioned by the police for two hours until he confessed to the crimes. In a 5-4 Supreme Court decision Miranda v. Arizona (1966) ruled that 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. The arrested now must be stated their "Miranda Rights." -
Loving v. Virginia
The Lovings had an interracial marriage between black and white. A unanimous Court struck down state laws banning marriage between individuals of different races, holding that these anti-miscegenation statutes violated both the Due Process and the Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. This case relieved a segregation aspect of the law and love lives. -
Tinker v. Des Moines
Suspension of students by a public school for wearing black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War. In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court's majority ruled that neither students nor teachers “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” The case cemented students' rights to free speech in public schools. -
Brandenburg v. Ohio
An Ohio law prohibited the teaching or advocacy of the doctrines of criminal syndicalism. 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.” Brandenburg made it harder for the government to convict people for speaking in favor of violence. -
Lemon v. Kurtzman
The decision if the states gives money to religious schools for hiring teachers even if it was specified that the teachers couldn't teach religion. The very first amendment in the Constitution deals with freedom of religion. Court (8–0 decision) that Kurtzman's case was unconstitutional. The case established the "Lemon Test," a three-pronged test for determining whether a statute passes scrutiny under the First Amendment's prohibition of laws "respecting an establishment of religion." -
NY Times v. US
New York Times and Washington Post printed illegally leaked classified documents about American involvement in the Vietnam War. In a 6-3 decision, the Court ruled that the President's attempt to prevent the publication was a violation of First Amendment protections for press freedom. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception because of this case. -
Furman v. Georgia
Supreme Court case that revolves around the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment in death penalty cases. The Court held that it would, finding that the death penalty was unconstitutional when applied in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner. Penalties issued have evolved to be more humanitarian. -
Roe v. Wade
A pregnant single woman (Roe) brought a class action challenging the constitutionality of the Texas criminal abortion laws, which proscribe procuring or attempting an abortion except on medical advice for the purpose of saving the mother's life. In its 1973 decision Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court recognized the right to liberty in the Constitution, which protects personal privacy. Technological and product development for contraception prevention and abortion occured. -
Gregg v. Georgia
Petitioner was charged with committing armed robbery and murder on the basis of evidence that he had killed and robbed two men. In a 7-to-2 decision, the Court held that a punishment of death did not violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments under all circumstances. The Gregg v. Georgia case is historically and legally significant because it upheld the legality of the death penalty. -
New Jersey v. TLO
In a New Jersey high school, a teacher found two girls smoking in the bathroom and took them to the principal's office. T.L.O., denied it. The principal demanded to see the girl's purse and found evidence that she was also selling marijuana at school. 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. This assured legal permission for regular people to search private property with reason. -
Texas v. Johnson
Johnson was arrested for burning the flag to protest the policies of President Ronald Reagan. In a 5-to-4 decision, the Court held that Johnson's burning of a flag was a protected expression under the First Amendment. It proved that speech conveyed non-verbally is still free. -
Employment Division v. Smith
When Smith and Black brought a claim for unemployment compensation, the state denied them benefits because their use of peyote was viewed as misconduct. The Supreme Court changed the religious free exercise law dramatically by ruling that generally applicable laws not targeting specific religious practices do not violate the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. Created the Free Exercise Clause protecting religious beliefs. -
Church of Lukumi Babalu v. Hialeah
The Church of Lukumi Babalu offered religious animal sacrifices. the Supreme Court affirmed the principle that laws targeting specific religions violate the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. The Free Exercise Clause was made to protect animal sacrifice. -
Morse v. Frederick
High school principal Morse saw students unfurl a banner stating “BONG HiTS 4 JESUS,” which she regarded as promoting illegal drug use. In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment does not prevent school administrators from restricting student expression that reasonably is viewed as promoting the use of illegal drugs. It added restrictions on acceptable free speech. -
DC v. Heller
Richard Heller challenged the District's law banning virtually all handguns on Second Amendment grounds. Court decided (5–4) that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to possess firearms independent of service in a state militia and to use firearms for traditionally lawful purposes, including self-defense within the home. This installment of Law and the Public's Health concerns one of the most hotly contested constitutional issues underpinning public health policy. -
McDonald v. Chicago
Otis McDonald, a retired African American custodian, filed suit challenging provisions of a 1982 Chicago law that generally banned the new registration of handguns and made registration a prerequisite of possession of a firearm. The court ruled (5–4) that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,” applies to state and local governments as well as to the federal government. Now states cannot prohibit arms. -
Snyder v. Phelps
The case brought up the issue of whether or not the First Amendment protected public protestors at a funeral against claims of emotional distress, better known as tort liability. The court ruled 8-1 that the First Amendment prohibited the imposition of civil liability upon a church and its members who picketed the funeral of a slain Marine. A complex case that touches multiple amendments and seen as reference. -
Obergefell v. Hodges
Supreme Court ruled (5–4) that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees the right to marry as one of the fundamental liberties it protects, and that analysis applies to same-sex couples in the same manner as it does to opposite-sex couples. All sexual orientation marriages became widely accepted in the US. -
Mahaney Area School District v. B.L.
The school district's decision to suspend student Brandi Levy from the cheerleading team for posting on social media outside school hours. The Court rejected the Third Circuit's rule restricting a public school's regulatory rights established in Tinker to on-campus speech. This established the school's non-ability to regulate social media activity outside of school hours.