AP Government Cases

Supremacy clause and Necessary and Proper Clause

The state cannot tax the second National Bank because it would violate the Supremacy Clause. The Bank is Constitutional because of the Necessary and Proper Clause.

The State of Maryland wants to tax the national bank so it can make money and strengthen the state banks. This raises issue of Federal vs. State power.

Judicial review

The court has judicial review power to declare an act of Congress or the President unconstitutional. It expands power of the Federal Courts by declaring the Judiciary Act unconstitutional and thus allowing Jefferson’s decision to not deliver judgeships to stand.

President Adams is leaving office and wants to keep Federalist Judges on the bench. He names many and they are confirmed by Senate but Jefferson refuses to sit them and some of them sue to get their jobs.

Establishment Clause

It incorporates a portion f the first Amendment to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment by declaring that a state law requiting prayer in public school to be unconstitutional as a violation of the Establishment Clause.

The State of New York required public schools to have a minute of prayer during each school day.

Symbolic political speech

The court incorporates a portion of the First Amendment to the states through the Fourteenth amendment by holding that symbolic political speech is protected even in public schools. Students cannot be punished for symbolic speech unless it creates a material disruption to the educational process.

Several middle school students in public school wear arm bands protesting the Vietnam war despite a rule saying they cannot and they fight their punishment.

Free exercise clause

The court incorporates a portion of the First Amendment to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment by holding that school compulsory attendance rules violated the free exercise clause as applied to the Amish students. The parents right to freedom or religion decision for their children was found to be more important than the state’s goal of education.

Amish parents do not want to comply with the state compulsory education requirement for students until they are 16. Their argument is that it violates their right to free exercise of religion.

Prior restraint

The court rules against the government seeking “prior restraint” of the press when it wants to stop publication of the Pentagon Papers. The Court says Freedom of Press under the First Amendment outweighs the claim of National Security.

Both the New York Times and Washington Post want to publish government documents that show the government had lies about issues concerning the Vietnam War and President Nixon did not want these papers published.

Clear and present danger

The Court upholds the arrest of the defendant for interfering with the governments use of a military draft over the claim of First Amendment protection. They find there was a “clear and present danger” exception to the First Amendment.

Schenck believed that the war was wrong and that speaking out against the draft and holding signs to express his views was the best way to explain his position.

Sixth Amendment / 6th Amendment

The court incorporated the protection of the Sixth Amendment to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment and holds that all defendants charges with a felony are entitled to a free attorney if they cannot afford one. The right is later extended to all cases where the defendant is facing the potential for a sentence of incarceration.

Florida forced Gideon to proceed to trial on a felony charge without a lawyer because he did not have the money to pay for one.

Second Amendment / 2nd Amendment

The court incorporates the protection of the Second Amendment “right to bear arms” to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment and holds that restrictions placed by the city on citizens seeking gun possession permits were unconstitutional.

McDonald carried a gun legally for work but also wanted to carry it off duty and the City had a law that said he could not as a matter of public safety.

One man - one vote

The Court held that the state of Tennessee violated the US Constitution because its voting districts were not of equal population size. (“One Man - One Vote”) The Court would subsequently also hold that district lines for Gerrymandering purposes could not seek to dilute the political power of minority residents. This broadens the power of the Federal Government.

The state legislature wanted to restrict black voters so they drew district lines for representatives that had very different population numbers in the various voting districts.

Equal protection clause

The Court holds that when voting district lines are challenged based on race, the courts will use “Strict Scrutiny” to insure that the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is not violated. This broadens the power of the Federal Government in Gerrymandering cases.

A challenge was made to the way the district lines for representatives were drawn because they purposely sought to limit black voters from gaining power.

Congress had the power to incorporate the bank because Congress had powers not explicitly outlined in the US Constitution.

The Judiciary Act conflicted with the Constitution. Congress did not have power to modify the Constitution through regular legislation because of the Supremacy clause

The policy breached the constitutional wall of separation between church and state. The constitutional prohibition of laws establishing religion meant that government had no business drafting formal prayers for any segment of its population to repeat in a government-sponsored religious program.

The armbands represented pure speech that is entirely separate from the actions or conduct of those participating in it. The armbands were also not disruptive, and the school district’s actions evidently stemmed from a fear of possible disruption rather than any actual interference.

The values and programs of secondary school conflicted with the fundamental mode of life mandated by the Amish religion, and that an additional one or two years of high school would not produce the benefits of public education cited to justify the law.

The vague word security should not be used to ignore the fandmental law embodied in the First Amendment. Publication would not cause an inevitable, direct, and immediate event imperiling the safety of American forces, so prior restraint was unjustified.

The courts owed greater regard to the government during wartime, even when constitutional rights were at stake. The First Amendment does not protect speech that approaches creating a clear and present danger of a significant evil that Congress has power to prevent.

The Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of counsel is a fundamental and essential right made obligatory upon the states by the Fourteenth Amendment.

Rights that are fundamental to the Nation’s scheme of ordered liberty or that are deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition are appropriately applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Self-defense was one such fundamental and deeply rooted right.

The equal protection issues raised in this case merited judicial evaluation.

The district shape was bizarre enough to suggest that it constituted an effort to separate voters into different districts based on race. It seemed to exceed what was reasonably necessary to avoid racial imbalances.