Landmark Supreme Court cases and what each decided

Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to C on McCulloch v. Maryland. Card A, "Article I, section 8" (National Archives transcript, exact, last clause): "To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof." Card B, "Chief Justice Marshall" (McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819 (opinion of the Court, exact)): "Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of the constitution, are constitutional." "That the power to tax involves the power to destroy; that the power to destroy may defeat and render useless the power to create…" Card C, "The case" (summary in our words, not a quotation): The vote was 7 to 0. Congress had created the Second Bank of the United States, and Maryland taxed its branch in Baltimore. The Court held that Congress may create a national bank and that a state may not tax it. The Constitution does not use the word "bank."

2. 1.

   Ari reads Card B. Article I never names a bank. What does Marshall's sentence allow Congress to use?

   • Any means Congress thinks useful, so long as Congress says the end it seeks is legitimate
   • Just the means that the text names, since the clause in Card A lists the powers Congress has
   • Appropriate means plainly adapted to a legitimate end, even when the text does not list them
   • Just the means that are indispensable, since Card A says laws must be 'necessary'
3. 2.

   Esme traces Card C. Before and after McCulloch, who gained and who lost power over the bank?

   • The Court gained the power to create the bank, and Congress lost the power to charter it
   • Congress gained room to choose unlisted means, and Maryland lost the power to tax the bank
   • Maryland gained the power to tax the bank, and Congress lost room to choose unlisted means
   • Congress gained power to do anything the text leaves unsaid, and the states lost each power to tax
4. 3.

   Jun reads this claim: 'McCulloch shows the Constitution lets Congress do anything it thinks helpful.' Which response do the cards best support?

   • Wrong: the Court voted 7 to 0, so it decided a narrow question about one bank and nothing more
   • Right: Card B says appropriate means are constitutional, with no further conditions
   • Overstated: Card B needs a legitimate end in the Constitution's scope and means not prohibited
   • Right: the Court allowed a bank the text does not name, so it will allow any unnamed power

5. Use this

   Cards A to D on Plessy v. Ferguson. Card A, "The Fourteenth Amendment, section 1, last sentence" (National Archives transcript, exact): "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Card B, "The majority" (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 (opinion of the Court, exact)): "We consider the underlying fallacy of the plaintiff's argument to consist in the assumption that the enforced separation of the two races stamps the colored race with a badge of inferiority. If this be so, it is not by reason of anything found in the act, but solely because the colored race chooses to put that construction upon it." Card C, "Justice Harlan, dissenting" (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896, exact): "…is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens." Card D, "The case" (summary in our words, not a quotation): The vote was 7 to 1. The Court upheld a Louisiana law that made Black and white passengers ride in separate railway cars, under the rule later called separate but equal. Justice Harlan wrote the one dissent.

6. 4.

   Kira reads Card B. What reasoning does the majority give for upholding the Louisiana law?

   • That separation really did mark one race as inferior, but the Constitution allowed it anyway
   • That Black passengers had asked for separate cars, so the state was just meeting their request
   • That the railway cars were equal in quality, so no one could claim inferiority
   • That any badge of inferiority comes from how Black passengers read the law, not the law itself
7. 5.

   Luz sets Card B beside Card C. How do the majority and the dissent differ?

   • They disagree about the facts of the case but agree that equal protection allows separate cars
   • The majority says the Constitution tolerates no classes among citizens; Harlan says the law implies no inferiority
   • The majority upheld the law because it found the cars unequal; Harlan upheld it because he found them equal
   • The majority finds no inferiority in the law itself; Harlan says the Constitution tolerates no classes among citizens
8. 6.

   Noah reads this claim: 'Plessy shows the Court always allowed separation by race.' Which response do the cards best support?

   • Wrong: Card A bars separation by race, so the Court could not have allowed it
   • Right: Card B says separation does not imply inferiority, which covers each setting
   • Overstated: the cards show a ruling on railway cars in Louisiana, not on any other setting
   • Wrong: Justice Harlan's dissent shows that the Court was divided evenly

9. Use this

   Cards A to D on Brown v. Board of Education. Card A, "The Fourteenth Amendment, section 1, last sentence" (National Archives transcript, exact): "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Card B, "Chief Justice Warren" (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954 (opinion of the Court, exact)): "We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." Card C, "The case" (summary in our words, not a quotation): The vote was 9 to 0. Cases from four states asked whether separating public school students by race breaks the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause. The Court said it does. Card D, "Plessy v. Ferguson" (summary in our words, not a quotation): In 1896 the Court voted 7 to 1 to uphold a Louisiana law requiring separate railway cars for Black and white passengers.

10. 7.

    Pia reads Card B. What did Brown decide about the rule of separate but equal?

    • That Plessy was wrong about railway cars, because separate cars are inherently unequal
    • That the rule has no place in public education, since separate schools are inherently unequal
    • That schools must be equal in buildings and teachers, though they may stay separate
    • That the rule has no place in any public setting, because separate facilities are inherently unequal
11. 8.

    Invented case: a state runs one public library for Black residents and another for white residents. Ren reads Card B. Does it decide the case?

    • Not directly: Card B covers public education, and the cards say nothing about libraries
    • No: Card D shows Plessy still controls, since Brown did not mention libraries
    • Yes: Card C says the Fourteenth Amendment bars states from using race in any public service
    • Yes: Card B says separate facilities are inherently unequal, and a library is a facility
12. 9.

    Tala reads Cards A and C. Whose power did Brown limit?

    • The federal courts' power to hear school cases, since the Court limited its own docket
    • Local school boards' power to set any school rule, since the Court now reviews them
    • The power of the four states to run public schools separated by race, since states must give equal protection
    • Congress's power to fund public schools, since the Fourteenth Amendment limits what Congress may spend
13. 10.

    Zee reads this claim: 'Brown was 9 to 0, so the Court must always have thought Plessy was wrong.' Which response do Cards C and D best support?

    • The claim is right, since the one dissent in 1896 shows the Court had doubts
    • The claim is right, since a unanimous vote shows how earlier Courts would have voted
    • The claim is wrong, since a 7 to 1 vote shows the 1896 Court thought the law fair
    • In 1896 the vote was 7 to 1 for the law; 9 to 0 in 1954 shows a later Court disagreeing