Supreme Court Trivia

1. In Marbury v. Madison (1803), the Supreme Court established the precedent of what?

From Quiz US Supreme Court Cases That Changed Society

Answer: Judicial review

Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the opinion in which he ruled that the Constitution granted the Court the authority to review the constitutionality of congressional laws, executive actions, and state laws. Marbury was a "midnight" appointment by President Adams to a magistrate position, but the necessary paperwork didn't arrive at the State Department until the next day, when Jefferson became president and Madison became secretary of state. Madison refused to sign the appointment. The Court ruled in Marbury's favor but had no power to enforce it.

From Quiz U.S. Supreme Court Decisions in 2022

Answer: Roe v. Wade

In May 2022, the American media reported shocking news: a draft of the Dobbs opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, had leaked and abortion was no longer recognized as a constitutional right. Abortion has been one of the most controversial issues in American life for decades. After Donald Trump won the 2016 election and was able to appoint three conservative Supreme Court justices, many predicted that the Court would shift to the right. The leak seemed to confirm that the Court was posed to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, two Supreme Court cases that found a constitutional right to abortion through substantive due process. This was shocking to many, not only because of the dramatic effect it would have on American life and the law (many states immediately passed laws severely restricting abortion after the ruling) but also because the leak itself was unprecedented. Justices Breyer, Kagan, and Sotomayor dissented.

From Quiz Justice Will Be Served

Answer: Ronald Reagan

President Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981. She served on the Supreme Court until her retirement in 2006. Because presidents traditionally appoint prospective justices whose philosophies are similar to their own, O'Connor's conservative bent made her a logical choice.

From Quiz Supreme Court Decisons 2010

Answer: The government may not suppress political speech on the basis of the speaker's corporate identity.

A badly-split court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the government may not ban political spending by corporations. President Obama decried the ruling, stating, "This ruling strikes at our democracy itself. I can't think of anything more devastating to the public interest. The last thing we need to do is hand more influence to the lobbyists in Washington, or more power to the special interests to tip the outcome of elections." The majority of the court saw the case as a fairly straightforward application of the first amendment, and felt that the government simply had no business restricting political speech, even when done by corporations. Justice Stevens in dissent accused the majority of political activism, since they were striking down a law passed by Congress. Stevens wrote: "The conceit that corporations must be treated identically to natural persons in the political sphere is not only inaccurate but also inadequate to justify the Court's disposition of this case." It should be noted that the restrictions imposed by Congress on corporate donations to individual candidates were not affected by this ruling. Rather, this case involved direct spending by the organization Citizens United, which had produced a film critical of Senator Hillary Clinton, intended for viewing during the 2008 Democratic primary campaign. The McCain-Feingold campaign reform law of 2002 prevented this sort of broadcast within thirty days of a primary, and it is this provision which the Supreme Court struck down.

From Quiz The US Supreme Court

Answer: John Jay

Jay was appointed by President George Washington in 1789. It is has been said that the character of Enoch Crosby in James Fenimore Cooper's 1821 book "The Spy" is based on John Jay.

From Quiz 2007 U.S. Supreme Court Cases

Answer: The 4th Amendment

"When the police make a traffic stop, a passenger in the car, like the driver, is seized for Fourth Amendment purposes and so either one may challenge the stop's constitutionality." 127 S.Ct.2400 (June 18, 2007)

From Quiz Landmark Cases and Their Precedents

Answer: Plessy v. Ferguson

This case was decided in 1896, after the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which stated that all races were entitled to the same treatment. Despite this, many private individuals continued to discriminate against blacks with segregation. Homer Plessy, who was only one-eighth black, was required to ride the "colored" train car, and when he refused to, he was jailed. He sued the state, but they ruled in favor of the railroad company. He eventually took the case all the way to the Supreme Court, where the court also ruled against Plessy, deciding that it was constitutional to have separate facilities for each race.

From Quiz Supreme Court Cases Worth Knowing

Answer: The Constitution does not give the Court the power of judicial review.

Without this decision by Chief Justice John Marshall, it is possible that the system of checks and balances would not work at all. The Court gave this power to itself.

From Quiz History of the U.S. Supreme Court

Answer: Byron White

The Bush v. Gore case dealt with whether to have another recount in Florida. The Court decided for Bush, there was no 'new' recount in Florida, Bush got the state's electoral votes, and that put him over the top to 'win' the election. Both Harry Blackmun (on the court from 1970 to 1994; a Nixon appointee) and Abe Fortas (on the court from 1965 to 1969; a Johnson appointee) were dead by the time the Bush v. Gore case came before the Court. John Paul Stevens (a 1975 appointee of Gerald Ford) was on the Court, heard the case, and sided with Al Gore. Byron White was on the Court from 1962 to 1993, and was an appointee of President Kennedy.

From Quiz Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press

Answer: Schenck v. US

Schenck v. US (1919) was one of the first cases heard by the Supreme Court involving a free speech claim. The Court upheld Schenck's conviction and the Espionage Act of 1917. It set the precedent that freedom of speech is not absolute, and that speech with a tendency to cause substantial evil may be curbed by government.

From Quiz Famous U.S. Supreme Court Cases

Answer: Marbury v. Madison

There is likely no case in U.S. history more important than Marbury v. Madison. This court decision, handed down only a few years after the country became independent, stands for the principle that federal courts are the ultimate arbiter of constitutionality. The decision was written by Chief Justice John Marshall, who was appointed by President John Adams while serving as Secretary of State. The case started as a dispute about Marbury's commission to serve as a justice of the peace, but Marshall used the opinion to establish judicial review while simultaneously declining to expand the Court's jurisdiction (some scholars refer to this as "genius"!) The role of today's Supreme Court would not be the same without this decision. The main takeaways are (1) that Congress may not increase the jurisdiction of federal courts beyond what is allowed in the Constitution, and (2) that the Court can review executive and legislative action (the other two branches of government) for their constitutionality. The latter principle is embodied in one of the most famous lines from the case: "it is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is."

From Quiz Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Answer: Roger B. Taney

Taney, himself a slave owner, wrote that the Constitution did not consider blacks to be citizens. The 14th Amendment (1868) set aside this decision.

From Quiz The Supreme Court Cases

Answer: O'Connor

O'Connor wrote in 'Akron' that she wanted an 'undue burden' standard to be the standard by which the laws are deemed unconstitutional. In the Casey court case, O'Connor's standard was put into place. Her opinion is considered valuable because she was the first woman justice on the court and therefore her views would be coming from a woman's ideas.

From Quiz US Supreme Court Cases That Changed Society

Answer: Loving v. Virginia (1967)

Virginia celebrates inter-racial marriage on "Loving Day", June 12th. Obergefell dealt with the issue of same-sex marriage.

From Quiz U.S. Supreme Court Decisions in 2022

Answer: Justice Thomas

Concepcion v. United States had the Court examined whether district courts could take into account "intervening factors" in reducing a criminal sentence under the First Step Act of 2018. That bipartisan law was a major step in criminal justice reform and, among other things, proposed reduced sentences for certain crimes. The Court had to decide whether a lower court could or had to reevaluate the sentencing of Carlos Concepcion, a man who had been convicted of drug offenses and was seeking a sentence reduction through the Act. Justice Sotomayor concluded in the majority opinion that the First Step Act does allow lower courts to take into account such factors in deciding whether to reduce a sentence. In addition to Justices Breyer and Kagan, Sotomayor was also joined by two justices who often rule opposite to her: Justice Thomas and Justice Gorsuch.

From Quiz Supreme Court Decisions in 2015

Answer: Personally asking their supporters for money

Williams-Yulee was reprimanded and fined for signing a fund-raising letter during her campaign for judge. The court split 5-4, with Chief Justice Roberts joining the four liberals (Sotomayor, Ginsburg, Kagan and Breyer) in upholding the law. The majority applied the principle that any law limiting speech content must face strict scrutiny, meaning that the law must be narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest. The majority felt that the state's interest in preserving public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary met the "compelling state interest" test, and Roberts concluded that "This is therefore one of the rare cases in which a speech restriction withstands strict scrutiny." The dissenters pointed to the fact that all solicitations were banned, even solicitations from family members or others who could not possibly ever appear as a litigant in the candidate's courtroom, should she be elected. Similarly, newspaper ads, mass mailings, flyers on telephone poles, and websites addressed to the general public were all banned, as long as they contained a personal appeal for funds from the candidate. In light of this analysis, the dissenters were incredulous over how the majority could have concluded that the law in question met the "narrowly tailored" test.

From Quiz Justice Will Be Served

Answer: The assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Decades after the Warren Commission issued its 26-volume report, which concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin of President John F. Kennedy, the debate has raged over the investigation itself as well as the conclusions of the Commission.

From Quiz Supreme Court Decisons 2010

Answer: David Souter

Souter had been serving on the court since his appointment in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush. The oddity associated with Souter's retirement is that at the time he retired he was only the sixth-oldest member of the court. He was "only" 69, twenty years younger than Justice John Paul Stevens, but he did not like Washington and was anxious to return to his native New Hampshire.

From Quiz The US Supreme Court

Answer: She was often the "swing vote" between the liberal and conservative factions

Sandra Day O'Connor was viewed as a moderate on courts that often had two core groups: conservatives and liberals. In the book "The Nine" author Jeffrey Toobin writes of the numerous cases she essentially decided as it was her opinion that broke the 4-4 ties on some of the most controversial decisions before the Court, including those that dealt with abortion, racial quotas and gun control.

From Quiz 2007 U.S. Supreme Court Cases

Answer: Pot

A student was punished for holding a questionable sign (Bong Hits 4 Jesus) at a school event on a public sidewalk outside the school. The school interpreted the banner as encouraging drug use. The student was then suspended.

From Quiz Landmark Cases and Their Precedents

Answer: Miranda v. Arizona

The defendant, Ernesto Miranda, prior to the Supreme Court case, was convicted of robbery and attempted rape based solely on his confession during interrogation. However, his Fifth Amendment rights were violated because he was not aware that he could remain silent during an interrogation. In addition, he was not given due process that was entitled to him in the Fourteenth Amendment. Thus, the court ruled that the rights had to be read to a suspect. They became known as "Miranda Rights".

From Quiz Supreme Court Cases Worth Knowing

Answer: The Court claimed that blacks were not citizens and could therefore not sue.

While the Court took a vast amount of time deciding, it did so in pre-Civil War America. The Court itself had a majority of justices amenable to the South, including Chief Justice Taney.

From Quiz History of the U.S. Supreme Court

Answer: William Douglas

Franklin Roosevelt appointed William Douglas to the court in 1939, and he retired in 1975 (he was on the court for 36 years and 7 months), and Douglas was one of the most liberal Justices in history. Hugo Black was appointed by FDR in 1937, and retired in 1971. Before being a Supreme Court Justice, Black was a US Senator from Alabama. Black was briefly a member of the KKK, but on the court he was a champion of school desegregation. John Harlan was a justice from 1955 to 1971, and President Eisenhower appointed him. Though they disagreed on many issues, he was a close personal friend of Hugo Black. William Howard Taft was Chief justice from 1921 to 1930, and President Warren Harding appointed him. Taft is the only person to have been both President and Supreme Court Justice.

From Quiz Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press

Answer: Gitlow v. New York

Gitlow was a socialist who distributed pamphlets calling for a general strike. He was convicted under a New York law that made it a crime to advocate the violent overthrow of the government. Although his free speech claim failed, this was one of the first cases in which the Court reviewed the constitutionality of a state law. In the dissenting opinion Holmes and Brandeis said Gitlow's actions did not present a clear and present danger as there was no incitement to action.

From Quiz Famous U.S. Supreme Court Cases

Answer: Bank cashier

In the 1800s, the U.S. was still in its early stages and there was uncertainty as to the balance of federal and state powers. McCulloch v. Maryland is a landmark case because its interpretation of the Constitution's Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 (otherwise known as the "necessary and proper clause"). Essentially, the case was born from a disagreement between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton wanted (and succeeded in persuading President Washington) to create a national bank; Jefferson (and James Madison) believed such bank was unnecessary as the states already had one. McCulloch, a cashier for the Second Bank of the United States in Maryland, was sued by the state after refusing to pay state taxes. In a unanimous decision, the Marshall court held not only that Maryland could not tax the bank, but that the necessary and proper clause gave Congress implied authority to establish a national bank (just like Article I Section 8 also allows it to establish post offices).

From Quiz Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Answer: Plessy v. Ferguson

Homer Plessy took a seat in the 'white only' car of the East Louisiana Railway in 1892. He refused to move to the 'colored' car and was arrested.

From Quiz The Supreme Court Cases

Answer: Douglas

Griswold v Connecticut was about a CT law which banned contraceptives and made it illegal for people to tell women how to prevent pregnancy. It was declared illegal because it interfered with a woman's right to reproduce.

From Quiz US Supreme Court Cases That Changed Society

Answer: Schenck v. U.S. (1919)

Charles Schenck, a known socialist, was convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 for passing out flyers opposing the draft. Schenck argued that his actions were protected under the 1st Amendment. The Court set the precedent that the 1st Amendment does not protect speech that represents a "clear and present danger". Schenck's activity would have been protected in peacetime.

From Quiz U.S. Supreme Court Decisions in 2022

Answer: West Virginia

West Virginia is well-known for its coal production. This case, which featured a collection of states and private organizations as plaintiffs against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was published as West Virginia v. EPA. The issue was connected to the Clean Air Act, and more specifically the Clean Power Plan. Though the Trump administration's EPA had relaxed the rules, a lower court vacated that change. This prompted multiple states and organizations to bring suit. Like in several other opinions in this term, the Court ruled 6-3, with the conservative and liberal justices voting all together. Chief Justice Roberts' majority opinion concluded that Congress did not authorize the EPA to impose the emissions caps that the Clean Power Plan required.

From Quiz Supreme Court Decisions 2013

Answer: The petitioners lacked standing to pursue the issue.

Following a decision by the California Supreme Court that the failure to recognize same-sex marriage violated the state's constitution, California voters passed Proposition 8, amending the state constitution so as to overturn this decision. When several same-gender couples sued in federal court, state officials refused to defend the law, and the court then allowed the ballot initiative's main proponents to intervene and pursue the case. The Supreme Court held that these intervenors lacked standing to pursue the case, so the court refused to consider the merits of the case. Four justices dissented, feeling that standing did exist. It should be noted that neither the majority nor the dissent expressed an opinion on the merits of the underlying issue, i.e., the constitutionality of the ban on same-sex marriage.

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Last Updated Apr 13 2024 5:46 AM

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