, Marbury vs. Madison - 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 vs. Sandford - 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 vs. Ferguson - 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 Vs. Miller - 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 - 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 - 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.
Sherbert v. Verner - 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.
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