Required content

AP® Gov required Supreme Court cases

The course has 14 required Supreme Court cases. For each one, you need the facts, what the Court decided, and the part of the Constitution it turns on. That's what this page gives you, grouped by the principle each case is about.

You'll use them most on the SCOTUS comparison question, where you compare a case you haven't seen with one of these. Roe v. Wade, which older lists include, is no longer required.

All 14 cases at a glance

Marbury v. Madison (1803)Courts can strike down laws that conflict with the Constitution (judicial review).
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)Congress has implied powers, like creating a bank, and a state can't tax the national government.
United States v. Lopez (1995)Banning guns near schools isn't regulating interstate commerce, so Congress went too far.
Baker v. Carr (1962)Federal courts can hear challenges to unequal legislative districts (“one person, one vote” followed).
Shaw v. Reno (1993)A district drawn mainly by race can be challenged under equal protection.
Engel v. Vitale (1962)Public schools can't sponsor prayer, even a voluntary, nondenominational one.
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)Amish families can't be forced to keep their children in school past eighth grade.
Schenck v. United States (1919)Speech that creates a “clear and present danger” isn't protected.
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)Students keep free speech at school, including symbolic speech, unless it causes substantial disruption.
New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)The government couldn't stop the Pentagon Papers being published: prior restraint carries a heavy burden.
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)Government can't limit independent political spending by corporations, unions and other groups.
McDonald v. Chicago (2010)The Second Amendment applies to state and local governments through the Fourteenth Amendment.
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)States must give a lawyer to anyone charged with a felony who can't afford one.
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)Segregated public schools are unconstitutional, ending “separate but equal” in education.

Judicial review and federalism

How much power the courts and the national government have, and where the states' powers begin.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Article III, judicial review

Facts: William Marbury was named a justice of the peace in the last days of John Adams's presidency, but his commission was never delivered, and the new Secretary of State, James Madison, refused to hand it over. Marbury asked the Supreme Court to order delivery under a section of the Judiciary Act of 1789.
Holding: Marbury deserved the job, but that section of the act unconstitutionally expanded the Court's original jurisdiction beyond what Article III allows, so the Court could not give him the order.
Why it matters: It established judicial review, the courts' power to strike down laws that conflict with the Constitution.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Necessary and Proper Clause, Supremacy Clause · Decided unanimous

Facts: Maryland taxed the Baltimore branch of the Second Bank of the United States, and the bank's cashier, James McCulloch, refused to pay.
Holding: Congress could create a bank as an implied power under the Necessary and Proper Clause, and a state cannot tax the national government because federal law is supreme.
Why it matters: It expanded national power through implied powers and confirmed national supremacy over the states.

United States v. Lopez (1995)

Commerce Clause, Tenth Amendment · Decided 5–4

Facts: A high school senior in San Antonio brought a handgun to school and was charged under the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990.
Holding: Congress went beyond its commerce power, because carrying a gun near a school is not economic activity that substantially affects interstate commerce.
Why it matters: It was the first time in decades the Court limited the Commerce Clause, protecting powers reserved to the states.

Representation and redistricting

How district lines are drawn, and when courts can step in.

Baker v. Carr (1962)

Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause · Decided 6–2

Facts: Tennessee had not redrawn its state legislative districts since 1901, so fast-growing cities had far more people per district than rural areas, and urban voters said their votes counted less.
Holding: Redistricting is not a 'political question' off-limits to judges, so federal courts can hear these cases.
Why it matters: It opened the door to the 'one person, one vote' rulings that require districts with roughly equal populations.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause · Decided 5–4

Facts: To create a second majority-Black congressional district, North Carolina drew a long, snake-like District 12 that followed a highway for much of its length, and white voters challenged it.
Holding: A district so oddly shaped that it can only be explained by race can be challenged under the Equal Protection Clause, and race-based districting must meet strict scrutiny.
Why it matters: It limits racial gerrymandering, even when the goal is to help minority voters.

Freedom of religion

The First Amendment's two religion clauses: no established religion, and free exercise.

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

First Amendment establishment clause · Decided 6–1

Facts: New York's state Board of Regents wrote a short, nondenominational prayer for students to say at the start of the school day, and students could stay silent or leave.
Holding: School-sponsored prayer violates the establishment clause even if it is voluntary and doesn't favor one religion.
Why it matters: Public schools can't lead students in official prayer.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

First Amendment free exercise clause

Facts: Amish parents refused to send their children to school after eighth grade, breaking a Wisconsin law that required attendance until age 16.
Holding: The free exercise clause protected the families, because the state's interest in two more years of schooling did not outweigh the burden on their religious way of life.
Why it matters: Free exercise can require exemptions from a general law when the burden on religion is heavy and the state's interest is weaker.

Freedom of speech and the press

What the First Amendment protects, and the few limits the Court allows.

Schenck v. United States (1919)

First Amendment speech clause · Decided unanimous

Facts: During World War I, Charles Schenck mailed leaflets urging men to resist the draft and was convicted under the Espionage Act.
Holding: The conviction stood, because speech that creates a 'clear and present danger' of serious harm Congress may prevent is not protected, especially in wartime.
Why it matters: Free speech is not absolute; later the Court narrowed the test in Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), protecting speech unless it is meant to and likely to cause imminent lawless action.

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)

First Amendment speech clause · Decided 7–2

Facts: Students wore black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War and were suspended.
Holding: Wearing the armbands was protected symbolic speech, and students keep their free speech rights at school unless their speech causes substantial disruption.
Why it matters: It protects symbolic speech and students' rights, while letting schools act against real disruption.

New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)

First Amendment press clause · Decided 6–3

Facts: The Nixon administration tried to stop newspapers from publishing the Pentagon Papers, a leaked, classified history of the Vietnam War, citing national security.
Holding: The government did not meet the heavy burden needed to justify prior restraint, so the papers could publish.
Why it matters: It set a very strong presumption against government blocking a story before publication.

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

First Amendment speech clause · Decided 5–4

Facts: A nonprofit group, Citizens United, wanted to air and advertise a film criticizing a 2008 presidential candidate close to the primaries, which the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act barred for corporate-funded ads.
Holding: Government may not limit independent political spending by corporations, unions and other groups, because political spending is protected speech; disclosure rules were upheld.
Why it matters: It helped lead to super PACs, which a lower court allowed later in 2010; direct contributions to candidates are still limited.

Incorporation and the rights of the accused

How the Bill of Rights came to limit state governments, one right at a time.

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

Second Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause · Decided 5–4

Facts: Chicago's ban on owning handguns kept a retiree and others from keeping a handgun at home for self-defense.
Holding: The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense, recognized in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), applies to state and local governments through the Fourteenth Amendment.
Why it matters: It is an example of selective incorporation; courts still decide which gun regulations are allowed.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Sixth Amendment right to counsel, Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause · Decided unanimous

Facts: Clarence Earl Gideon, charged with a felony in Florida, asked for a lawyer he couldn't afford, was refused, defended himself and was convicted; he appealed with a handwritten petition.
Holding: States must provide a lawyer to defendants in felony cases who can't afford one.
Why it matters: It incorporated the right to counsel against the states and strengthened procedural due process.

Equal protection

The Fourteenth Amendment's promise that states treat people equally under the law.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause · Decided unanimous

Facts: Black students, including Linda Brown in Topeka, Kansas, were required to attend separate schools; the NAACP, led by Thurgood Marshall, challenged segregation in several combined cases.
Holding: Separate public schools for Black and white students are inherently unequal and violate equal protection, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson's 'separate but equal' rule for public education.
Why it matters: It shows the Court overturning precedent and helped spark the civil rights movement.

Cases you may see that aren't required

These often come up in class and in practice questions, and they make good comparisons, but you don't have to know them cold.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Upheld a Louisiana law segregating railroad cars, creating the 'separate but equal' rule. Brown v. Board (1954) rejected it for public schools; it's the classic example of a precedent later overturned.
District of Columbia v. Heller (2008): Held that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to keep a handgun at home for self-defense, not only a right tied to militia service. It applied to the federal District of Columbia; McDonald v. Chicago extended the right to the states.
Miranda v. Arizona (1966): Police must warn suspects in custody of their right to stay silent and to have a lawyer before questioning them, or the statements usually can't be used. Later cases added a public safety exception.
Mapp v. Ohio (1961): Applied the exclusionary rule to the states: evidence found through an unconstitutional search usually can't be used at trial. It's the standard example of the Fourth Amendment's protection being incorporated.
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965): Struck down a Connecticut ban on birth control for married couples and recognized a right to privacy that the Constitution doesn't list by name. It is a starting point for modern right-to-privacy debates.
Roe v. Wade (1973) and Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022): Roe extended the right to privacy to abortion. Dobbs overturned Roe, holding that the Constitution doesn't protect a right to abortion and returning the issue to elected lawmakers; supporters and opponents still disagree over which unlisted rights due process protects.
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) and Grutter v. Bollinger (2003): Bakke struck down racial quotas in admissions but allowed race as one factor; Grutter upheld a law school's use of race as one factor to build diversity.
Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023): Held that race-conscious admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated equal protection and federal civil rights law, effectively ending race as a factor in most college admissions. Supporters said it ends unequal treatment by race; critics said it will reduce diversity.
Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969): Replaced the clear and present danger test: speech that advocates force or lawbreaking is protected unless it is meant to cause, and likely to cause, imminent lawless action.