WGU C963 EXAM QUESTIONS &
VERIFIED COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
100%
Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803) - correct answer ✔✔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. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1856) - correct answer ✔✔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, 163 U.S. 537 (1896) - correct answer ✔✔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, 307 U.S. 174 (1939) - correct answer ✔✔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, 323 U.S. 214 (1944) - correct answer ✔✔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 of Topeka, 347 U.S 483 (1954) - 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 Fourteenth Amendment.
Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961) - correct answer ✔✔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, 372 U.S 335 (1963) - correct answer ✔✔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 guilty. Upon his appeal, the
Supreme Court declared that the Sixth Amendment required that those facing felony criminal
charges be supplied with legal representation.
Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S 398 (1963) - correct answer ✔✔In this case the Supreme Court ruled
that states could not deny unemployment benefits to an individual who turned down a job
because it required working on the Sabbath.
Griswold v Connecticut, 381 U.S 479 (1965) - correct answer ✔✔Although several state
constitutions do list the right to privacy as a protected right, the explicit recognition by the
Supreme Court of a right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution emerged only in the middle of the
twentieth century. In this 1965 case, the court spelled out the right to privacy for the first time
in a case that struck down a state law forbidding even married individuals to use any form of
contraception.
VERIFIED COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
100%
Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803) - correct answer ✔✔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. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1856) - correct answer ✔✔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, 163 U.S. 537 (1896) - correct answer ✔✔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, 307 U.S. 174 (1939) - correct answer ✔✔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, 323 U.S. 214 (1944) - correct answer ✔✔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 of Topeka, 347 U.S 483 (1954) - 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 Fourteenth Amendment.
Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961) - correct answer ✔✔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, 372 U.S 335 (1963) - correct answer ✔✔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 guilty. Upon his appeal, the
Supreme Court declared that the Sixth Amendment required that those facing felony criminal
charges be supplied with legal representation.
Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S 398 (1963) - correct answer ✔✔In this case the Supreme Court ruled
that states could not deny unemployment benefits to an individual who turned down a job
because it required working on the Sabbath.
Griswold v Connecticut, 381 U.S 479 (1965) - correct answer ✔✔Although several state
constitutions do list the right to privacy as a protected right, the explicit recognition by the
Supreme Court of a right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution emerged only in the middle of the
twentieth century. In this 1965 case, the court spelled out the right to privacy for the first time
in a case that struck down a state law forbidding even married individuals to use any form of
contraception.
