C963 Test 1 Questions with 100% Verified
Correct Answers
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
This case involved the Judiciary Act of 1789. The Supreme Court declared that the law
conflicted with the U.S. Constitution, and the case established the principle of judicial review
wherein the Supreme Court has the power to declare laws passed by Congress and signed by
the president to be unconstitutional.
Dred Scott v. Sanford (1856)
This case concerned the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise, which declared that
certain states would be entirely free of slavery. A slave, who was brought by his owner into
free territories and back to Missouri, a slave state, sued claiming that his time living in free
territory made him free. The court declared that the relevant parts of the Missouri
Compromise were unconstitutional, and that he remained a slave as a result.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
When a man of mixed racial heritage, sat in a whites-only railroad car in an attempt to
challenge a Louisiana law that required railroad cars be segregated, he was arrested and
convicted. The court refused his appeal that the law was in a violation of the equal protection
principle because the different train cars were separate but equal.
United States v. Miller (1939)
In the early 1980s, following an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, laws
requiring background checks for prospective gun buyers were passed. In this case, the
Supreme Court upheld the 1934 National Firearms Act's prohibition of sawed-off shotguns,
, largely on the basis that possession of such a gun was not related to the goal of promoting a
"well regulated militia."
Korematsu v. United States (1944)
During World War II, citizens of Japanese descent living on the West Coast, whether
naturalized immigrants or Japanese Americans born in the United States, were subjected to
the indignity of being removed from their communities and interned under Executive Order
9066. When challenged, the Supreme Court decision in this case upheld the actions of the
government as a necessary precaution in a time of war.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
This case challenged the principle of "separate but equal." It was brought by students who
were denied admittance to certain public schools based exclusively on race. The unanimous
decision in this case determined that the existence of racially segregated public schools
violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
In this Supreme Court case it was decided that evidence obtained without a warrant that didn't
fall under one of the exceptions mentioned above could not be used as evidence in a state
criminal trial, giving rise to the broad application of what is known as the exclusionary rule,
which was first established in 1914 on a federal level in Weeks v. United States.
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
This case perpetuated from the arrest of a man who was accused of breaking into a poolroom
and stealing money from a cigarette machine. Not being able to afford a lawyer, and being
denied a public defender by the judge, the man defended himself and was subsequently found
Correct Answers
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
This case involved the Judiciary Act of 1789. The Supreme Court declared that the law
conflicted with the U.S. Constitution, and the case established the principle of judicial review
wherein the Supreme Court has the power to declare laws passed by Congress and signed by
the president to be unconstitutional.
Dred Scott v. Sanford (1856)
This case concerned the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise, which declared that
certain states would be entirely free of slavery. A slave, who was brought by his owner into
free territories and back to Missouri, a slave state, sued claiming that his time living in free
territory made him free. The court declared that the relevant parts of the Missouri
Compromise were unconstitutional, and that he remained a slave as a result.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
When a man of mixed racial heritage, sat in a whites-only railroad car in an attempt to
challenge a Louisiana law that required railroad cars be segregated, he was arrested and
convicted. The court refused his appeal that the law was in a violation of the equal protection
principle because the different train cars were separate but equal.
United States v. Miller (1939)
In the early 1980s, following an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, laws
requiring background checks for prospective gun buyers were passed. In this case, the
Supreme Court upheld the 1934 National Firearms Act's prohibition of sawed-off shotguns,
, largely on the basis that possession of such a gun was not related to the goal of promoting a
"well regulated militia."
Korematsu v. United States (1944)
During World War II, citizens of Japanese descent living on the West Coast, whether
naturalized immigrants or Japanese Americans born in the United States, were subjected to
the indignity of being removed from their communities and interned under Executive Order
9066. When challenged, the Supreme Court decision in this case upheld the actions of the
government as a necessary precaution in a time of war.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
This case challenged the principle of "separate but equal." It was brought by students who
were denied admittance to certain public schools based exclusively on race. The unanimous
decision in this case determined that the existence of racially segregated public schools
violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
In this Supreme Court case it was decided that evidence obtained without a warrant that didn't
fall under one of the exceptions mentioned above could not be used as evidence in a state
criminal trial, giving rise to the broad application of what is known as the exclusionary rule,
which was first established in 1914 on a federal level in Weeks v. United States.
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
This case perpetuated from the arrest of a man who was accused of breaking into a poolroom
and stealing money from a cigarette machine. Not being able to afford a lawyer, and being
denied a public defender by the judge, the man defended himself and was subsequently found
