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Schenk v. US
During World War I, many socialist groups were emerging speaking against the war. Schenk, a socialist, was arrested for spreading flyers encouraging draft dodgers. His arrest was questioned as a violation of his freedom of speech. However, the Supreme Court decided that his arrest was constitutional as it was an act of wartime authority. This case impacted the way that Congress can handle situations which present a threat to the government during times of war. It gave the government more leeway. -
Gitlow v. NY
Gitlow was arrested after handing out pamphlets encouraging socialism and the overthrow of the government. He challenged his arrest as a violation of his freedom of speech. However, the Court upheld his arrest as the freedom of speech does not condone any speech threatening the safety of the nation. This case impacted the nation as it warned against political speech that would threaten national security. It established that not all speech is acceptable when it endangers others. -
Mapp v. Ohio
This case took place under the liberal Warren court was ruling. After Mapp was arrested for obtaining obscene materials after the unwarranted search and seizure of her home, she challenged the act to be against her right to freedom of expression. The Supreme Court declared this act unconstitutional, not of the 1st amendment but the 4th, as the search and seizure were without a warrant. This established the boundaries that law officials had in investigations and gave citizens a right to privacy. -
Engel v. Vital
During this time, religion was a predominant part of many American lives. In Engel v. Vital, a public school held an optional, nondenominational prayer before classes in the morning. This was challenged as a violation of the Establishment Clause in the 1st Amendment. It was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. This ultimately forced all public schools to remove any religious bias in teaching. Once again, drilling the idea of separation of church and state into classrooms. -
Griswold v. Connecticut
After Connecticut passed a law banning the use of any drugs or medicine as a contraception, a gynecologist questioned the law's constitutionality. The Supreme Court declared this law to be unconstitutional as it went against the right to privacy, guaranteed by multiple amendments in the Bill of Rights. This impacted state legislation dealing with contraception and like issues, declaring that states had little to no say on the matter as it was a private issue. -
Tinker v. Des Moines
After students at a public high school wore black armbands in protest to the Vietnam War, school officials forced them to remove them. The students challenged this act as a violation of their freedom of speech. The Supreme Court declared that this was, in fact, unconstitutional as they represent pure speech and not action. This case impacted the freedom that students have in schools to be able to peacefully protest. This could even be linked to the March for Our Lives walkouts earlier this year. -
Brandenburg v. Ohio
During the Civil Rights era, a KKK leader issued a speech at a rally; he was later arrested for violating the Ohio Criminal Syndicalism Law, prohibiting the advocation of crime for a political purpose. Brandenburg challenged that this violated his freedom of speech. This law was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court as it was too broad. The impact of this case was it established a test to evaluate speech, questioning if the speech directly incites crime, which would be used in later cases. -
Lemon v. Kurtzman
After Rhode Island and Pennsylvania passed statutes allowing state funding to private, religious-based schools, a group of opposers challenged it to be unconstitutional. They believed it interfered with the Establishment Clause and the separation of church and state. The Supreme Court declared the statute unconstitutional as it showed to close of a relationship between state and religion. This impacted the funding of private schools and the positions states are allowed to take on religion. -
NY Times v. US
After the Nixon administration tried to prohibit the New York Times from releasing classified defense documents regarding Vietnam, these acts were called into question. The Supreme Court declared this restriction to be unconstitutional as it violated the 1st amendment freedom of the press. This impacted the role of the government, weaking their hold on the media. It provided the media with more room to work and report freely without restrictions from the government. -
Wisconsin v. Yoder
During this time many state laws required all children to stay in school until the age of 16, prohibiting the Amish from taking their children out of school following 8th grade. The Amish did not believe in high school, so a group of Amish in Wisconsin challenged the law to be against their 1st amendment right of freedom of religion. This case had a significant impact as it established that religious groups had freedom to worship how they would like without being impacted by certain laws. -
New Jersey v. TLO
After a girl, TLO, suspected of smoking cigarettes was searched by school officials, she was found to have cigarettes, marijuana and a list of clients. TLO challenged this action as a violation of her 4th amendment right to protection from unreasonable search and seizures. However, the Supreme Court declared the act constitutional as they had probable cause for the search. This impacted the rules for search and seizures at schools across the nation, limiting the freedoms of students in school. -
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier
After a school newspaper article was reviewed and denied by the school principal as inappropriate material, the students brought the issue to the Supreme Court stating that it violated their freedom of speech. The Supreme Court held that the principal's acts were constitutional as the school wasn't required to promote student speech. This impacted the rights that students had in schools, as they could not simply speak without consequences especially in a media associated with the school itself. -
Texas v. Johnson
After Johnson was arrested in Texas for burning an American flag to protest the Reagan administration, he challenged his arrest as a violation of his 1st amendment right to expression. The Supreme Court closely decided that Johnson's desecration of the flag was protected by his 1st amendment. The impact of this case was that limited the government's say in citizen forms of expression even if society deems it offensive. It also set the norm for any further flag discretion issues in the future. -
Sante Fe School v. Doe
After a student-led prayer was held before a public school football game, a Mormon and Catholic family challenged its constitutionality. This was stated by the Supreme Court to be a violation of the Establishment Clause as it encourages forcing religious practices in a government funded event. This further enforced the separation of church and state. It greatly impacted the way that schools ran certain events as religion had to be completely removed. -
Citizens United v. FEC
Hillary Clinton has been a controversial woman since her rise to the limelight as First Lady. During the time of this case, large corporations were running America. Citizens United wanted to fund and publish an anti-Clinton movie, however, it was banned by BCRA. So they challenged this and the Supreme Court stated that BCRA was unconstitutional. This impacted the running of political campaigns and its funding. It also furthered the impact that big business had on Americans and their views.
