| Case | facts |
| Roth v. US | Obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment |
| Gibbons v. Ogden | The Supreme Court broadly interpreted the clause in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution giving Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce, encompassing virtually every form of commercial activity. |
| Marbury v. Madison | The case in which Marshall first asserted the right of the Supreme Court to determine the meaning of the Constitution. The decision established the court's power of judicial review. |
| Brown v. Board of Education | Seperate but equal is inherently unequal. |
| McCulloch v. Maryland | Established the supremacy of the national government over state governments. |
| US v. Lopez | Commerce clause does not give congress the power to pass the Gun Free Schools Act |
| Roe v. Wade | The right to privacy gives a woman the right to an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. |
| Schenck v. US | Free speech can be restraint when there is "clear and present danger", such as during a war. |
| Gitlow v. New York | Overturned Barron v. Baltimore and incorporated the right to free speech to the states. |
| Tinker v. Des Moines School District | Symbolic speech of students is protected by the First Amendment. |
| Griswold v. Connecticut | Right to privacy. |
| Miranda v. Arizona | Rights of the accused. |
| Gideon v. Wainwright | Incorporated the right to an attorney |
| Mapp v. Ohio | Incorporated the Fourth Amendment (searches and seizures) |
| New York Times v. Sullivan | Set guidelines for winning libel suits. |
| Near v. Minnesota | Freedom of Press |
| Buckley v. Valeo | "Reasonable restrictions" on campaign contributions are allowed, but limits on campaign expenditures are not. Justified by freedom of speech. |
| Texas v. Johnson | Flag burning is a form of symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment. |
| Miller v. California | Obscenity |
| Engel v. Vitale | New York cannot mandate a state-composed non-denominational prayer be read in schools beecause it violated the Establishment Clause. |
| Lemon v. Kurtzman | Struck down a law reimbursing religious schools for textbooks and teacher salaries. Government suppored programs in religious schools must have a primary secular purpose, neither aid nor inhibit religion, and not excessively entangle government, religion. |
| Cantwell v. Connecticut | Incorporated the Free Exercise Clause, recognized absolute freedom of belief. |