Supreme Court Cases: The Top 30

Directions: Using your textbook for each of the following cases include the following in the chart provided:

  • Summary of the case
  • Who was involved?
  • What happened?
  • Where and when did it occur?
  • How and why was it brought to the Supreme Court?
  • The decision:
  • What was the Supreme Court ruling?
  • Explain why this is a landmark case

This assignment must be hand written, not typed.

Grading: 2 points each summary, 1 point each precedent = 90 points total

DUE DATE: April 4th

  1. Marbury v. Madison
  2. McCulloch v. Maryland
  3. Gibbons v. Ogden
  4. Engel v. Vitale
  5. Lemon v. Kurtzman
  6. Reynolds v. United States (1879)
  7. Oregon v. Smith
  8. Schenck v. United States
  9. New York Times v. Sullivan
  10. Roth v. Unites States
  11. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District
  12. Texas v. Johnson
  13. Barron v. Baltimore
  14. Gitlow v. New York
  15. Weeks v. United States
  16. Mapp v. Ohio
  17. Gideon v. Wainwright
  18. Miranda v. Arizona
  19. Dred Scott v. Sandford
  20. Plessy v. Ferguson
  21. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
  22. Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
  23. Grutter v. Bollinger
  24. Griswold v. Connecticut
  25. Roe v. Wade
  26. Baker v. Carr
  27. Wesberry v. Sanders
  28. Korematsu v. Unites States
  29. United States v. Nixon (1974)
  30. Buckley v. Valeo

Court Case / Marbury v. Madison
Who was involved? / William Marbury, James Madison
What happened? / Marbury and several others were appointed to government posts created by Congress in the last days of John Adams's presidency, but these were never fully finalized.
Where and when did it occur? / March 2, 1801,Washington DC
How and why was it brought to the Supreme Court? / Based on Judiciary Act of 1789 SCOTUS had jurisdiction
What was the Supreme Court ruling? / Judiciary Act of 1789 is unconstitutional because it conflicts with the Constitution.
Explain why this is a landmark case / Establishes the SCOTUS’ power of judicial review