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9th grade · Social Studies · Unit 7 of 10

Landmark Supreme Court Cases

How the Court reads the Constitution

What your child practices

Practices landmark Supreme Court cases and how the Court has interpreted due process and equal protection over time.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 9.1.3.5; 9.1.4.4 · landmark Supreme Court cases on due process and equal protection

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The 14th Amendment’s equal protection and due process clauses are at the heart of many cases.
  2. Near v. Minnesota (1931) limits stopping publication in advance. Brandenburg (1969) protects speech unless it aims to cause immediate lawless action.
  3. Mapp v. Ohio (1961): illegally seized evidence can’t be used in state courts.

Example: What did Mapp v. Ohio (1961) hold? Police found evidence without a proper warrant. The Court said such evidence can’t be used in state courts. Answer: Illegally seized evidence can’t be used in state courts

Landmark Supreme Court Cases in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 7 of 10 in 9th grade Social Studies, after Rights & Responsibilities and before Elections & Voting.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Why can interpretations of the Bill of Rights change over time?

    • presidents edit it
    • new cases, new facts and new justices lead to new readings
    • it is never read
    • the text is rewritten every year

  2. Question 2

    Supreme Court justices serve…

    • until age 50
    • six years
    • four years
    • for life, during good behavior

  3. Question 3

    In Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), the Court ruled that…

    • Congress controls interstate commerce
    • states control all trade
    • New York could ban ships
    • steamboats were illegal

  4. Question 4

    New York Times v. United States (1971) allowed newspapers to publish…

    • ballots
    • secret recipes
    • tax returns
    • the Pentagon Papers

  5. Question 5

    Which amendment's equal protection clause is at the center of many civil rights cases?

    • the 2nd
    • the 14th
    • the 21st
    • the 3rd

  6. Question 6

    Who appoints Supreme Court justices?

    • the president, with the Senate's consent
    • voters directly
    • the House alone
    • state governors

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