Note: Due to the sheer volume of civil liberties cases, this mind map will only include the specific facts of a case as they apply to the significance of the case.
Significance: The Court, for the first time,
nationalizes the Bill of Rights
after socialist propaganda was
distributed throughout New York.
Weeks v. United States
Decided: 1914
Significance: Establishment of
the exclusionary rule.
Wolf v. Colorado
Decided: 1946
Significance:
Continued
development of the
exclusionary rule.
Mapp v. Ohio
Decided: 1961
Significance: Made the
exclusionary rule applicable
to states.
Gideon v. Wainwright
Decided: 1963
Significance: Established
statewide Sixth Amendment
right to counsel.
Malloy v. Hogan
Decided: 1964
Significance: Further
established rights of the
accused pre-Miranda.
Miranda v. Arizona
Decided: 1966
Significance: Established
that law enforcement
officials advise suspects of
their right to remain silent
and to obtain an attorney
during interrogations while
in police custody.
Engel v.
Vitale
Decided: 1962
Significance: Struck down
New York
nondenominational prayers
in schools as "establishment
of religion".
Everson v. Bd. of Ed.
Decided: 1947
Significance: First in a series
of cases furthering
establishment clause in
schools, etc.
Lemon v. Kurtzman
Decided: 1971
Significance: Established Lemon test
for external expression of religion,
furthered establishment clause.
City of Boerne v.
Flores
Decided: 1997
Significance: Struck down RFRA of
1993- reestablished separation of
powers
Cantwell v.
Connecticut
Decided: 1940
Significance: Furthered use of the Free
Exercise Clause
Schenck v. United
States
Decided: 1919
Significance: Free speech- "clear
and present danger" doctrine
established.
Miller v. California
Decided: 1973
Significance: Established the three-part "Miller
test", or the standard used to judge the obscene.
Reno v. ACLU
Decided: 1997
Significance: Struck down a broad law pertaining to
minors' accessing obscene internet content.
Tinker v. Des Moines
Decided: 1964
Significance: Landmark symbolic speech case. Expression is protected as long it
does not cause a "material disruption or substantial inference".
Texas v. Johnson
Decided: 1989
Significance: Landmark symbolic speech case. The burning of the American flag is
protected by the First Amendment.
Furman v. Georgia
Decided: 1972
Significance: The Court ruled that the death penalty violated the 8th amendment
because of the manner of which it was imposed.
Gregg v. Georgia
Decided: 1976
Significance: The Court held up a state law that eliminated excessive jury
discretion in imposing the death penalty.
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
Decided: 1964
Significance: The Court defined both "libel" and "slander"
as they pertained to public figures and officials.
Cruzan v. Director Missouri Dept.
of Health
Decided: 1990
Significance: Right to privacy and right
to die- lead to passages of "living will"
statutes in many states.
Planned
Parenthood v.
Casey
Decided: 1992
Significance: Stated that states
may restrict abortions, as long
as they do not impose an
"undue hardship or burden on
the mother".
Webster v. Reproductive Health
Services
Decided: 1989
Significance: Another in the string of
abortion issues regarding the equal
protection clause.
Griswold v.
Connecticut
Decided: 1965
Significance: Court
established a "penumbra"
of rights- most remarkably,
birth control under the 4th,
9th and 14th amendments.
Roe v.
Wade
Decided: 1973
Significance: Court
establishes an absolute right
to choice with abortions.
Lawrence v.
Texas
Decided: 2003
Significance: Court
strikes down Texas law
criminalizing certain gay
rights.
New York Times Co. v. United States
Decided: 1971
Significance: Established
"prior restraint" in
regards to government
censorship.