WGU C963 - Significant Court Cases QUESTIONS WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS

Marbury v. Madison (1803, 5 US 137) Correct Answer: This case involved the Judiciary Act of 1789. Supreme Court declared that the law conflicted with the US 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. Sandford (1856, 60 US 393) Correct Answer: Supreme Court declared that slaves were not citizens of the United States and could not sue in Federal courts. In addition, this decision declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories. Dred Scott decision was overturned by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896, 163 US 537) Correct Answer: Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine. In 1892, Homer Plessy refused to sit in a car for blacks. Rejecting Plessy's argument that his constitutional rights were violated, Supreme Court ruled that a law that "implies merely a legal distinction" between whites and blacks was not constitutional. United States v. Miller (1939, 307 US 174) Correct Answer: In the early 1980's, following an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, laws requiring background checks for prospective gun buyers were passed. In this case, Supreme Court upheld the 1934 National Firearms Act's prohibition of sawed-off shotguns, largely on the basis that the possession of such a gun was not related to the goal of promoting a "well regulated militia." Korematsu v. United States (1944, 323 US 214) Correct Answer: During WW2, citizens of Japanese descent living on the West Coast, whether naturalized immigrants or Japanese Americans born in the US, were subjected to the indignity of being removed from their communities and interned under Executive Order 9066. When challenged, Supreme Court decision was to upheld the actions of the government as a necessary precaution in a time of war. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954, 347 US 483) Correct Answer: 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 14th Amendment.