Woof! I'm Ralph, and today I am going to take my magic time travel machine to visit some important Supreme Court cases. Hey, you should come with me! Let's have some fun...

WOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!

We have arrived in 1819, the year McCulloch v. Maryland was decided! It revolved around a bank cashier named McCulloch, who refused to pay a Maryland  state tax on a federal bank.

The Supreme Court unanimously decided that Congress had the power to make banks, and that state taxes on these banks are unconstitutional.

           Here we see McCulloch Mouse and The                         Maryland Mouse, whose legal disputes will go             on to create a legacy which set up a super important concept: Implied Powers! This means that the federal government is allowed to do more than the use the powers specifically given to them by the Constitution...

Now we're in 1995! The case of Lopez Lion, who illegally brought a gun to school, went all the way to the Supreme Court. Lopez Lion said that the federal government couldn't make a school-gun law, because it exceeded the limit of the Commerce Clause.

And the Supreme Court agreed! Since gun regulation has essentially nothing to do with the regulation of commerce, the Supreme Court said that the federal government's gun regulations where a federal overreach into the powers of the states. It does not fall under the Commerce Clause.

The Supreme Court case between Lopez Lion and The Unhappy U.S. Umbrella constitutional legacy was that it enforced a system of federalism. The states clearly are supposed to have power of school-gun regulations, and this case helped the

states claim their

own, legal powers

for themselves.

Let's go back to 1962! Vitale Velociraptor was the president of a school board, who authorized the reading of an optional prayer before school each day. Concerned parents like Engel Elephant sued, because they believed  these prayers violated the 1st amendment.

The Supreme Court sided with Engel Elephant! The government cannot authorize any prayers in public schools, even optional ones. Really, the constitutional legacy of this case is just that it clearly established the unconstitutionality of prayer in schools, as well as providing a tangible precedent to limit religion in all areas of gov.

Guess I should probably take off my Santa hat...

Time for our next time travel destination: 1972! Yoder Yak, who was Amish, did not want for his child to attend high school, and did not enroll the young 8th grade yak into public school. This broke The Wisconsin Wallaby's law about all children attending public school until at least age 16. This went to court, and Yoder Yak claimed that going to high school conflicts with the Amish religion.

The Supreme Court unanimously agreed with Yoder Yak! They stated that forcing Amish children to attend school after 8th grade violated the free exercise of religion in the 1st amendment, which trumped states' interests in education. The constitutional legacy of this case is that it established free exercise of religion to be more important than states' interests. This ultimately gave legal ground for the justification of many homeschooling situations later on.

Now we can time travel to 1969, the year Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School was decided! Tinker Turtle wanted to wear a black wristband to school to show support of a truce in the Vietnam War, but The Des Moines Dragon made it against school rules. When Tinker Turtle was punished for wearing the wristband, he had his parents help him sue The Des Moines Dragon, claiming that not being allowed to wear a wristband to show support of a truce in the Vietnam War violated freedom of speech in the 1st amendment. And the Supreme Court sided with: Tinker Turtle!

Since the school did not actually know in advance if the wristband                                     wearers would cause any disruption, not allowing

                    students to wear wristbands to show support

                of a cause violates the students' freedom of speech.

The constitutional legacy of this case is that it provided a prime example of precedent for all those claiming that their freedom of speech was violated. It also helped to further the concept of "freedom of speech" in 1st amendment.

It's time to travel to another year: 1971, the year New York Times Co. v. United States was decided! Here we see The New York Times Newt, who wanted to reveal classified information related to Vietnam, which they found out about, to the public. President Nixon attempted to prevent them from revealing this information, claiming that revealing it would threaten national security. This went to court. So guess who's back in the Supreme Court. Our friend, The Unhappy U.S. Umbrella!

And the Supreme Court agreed with: The New York Times Newt! The justices stated that the term "security" was to vague for the Unhappy U.S. Umbrella to justify the violation of the New York Times Co.'s rights given to them by the 1st amendment. The constitutional legacy of this case is that it allowed for the press to have significantly less restraint, even when handling considerably sensitive information, because in most cases the press will utilize this case's broadening of the 1st amendment to publish articles with more freedom of speech/press.

Woof! The year is 1919, and The Unhappy U.S. Umbrella is back, drafting Americans for WWI! Schenk Shark did not like that there was a draft, and he handed out leaflets urging people to disobey the draft. Because of this, Schenck Shark was convicted of obstructing military recruitment. He then brought it to the Supreme Court, saying that his freedom of speech was violated by not being allowed to hand out leaflets.

Woof! Now we're in 1963: Gideon v. Wainwright time! Gideon Grasshopper was charged of felony breaking and entering in Florida. He didn't have a lawyer, and was denied one when he requested that the state provide him with one. He believed that to be unconstitutional, and fought Wainwright Whale, who was the Florida Dept. of Corrections Secretary, all the way up to the Supreme Court.

Gideon Grasshopper absolutely obliterated Wainwright Whale when the Supreme Court unanimously sided with Gideon Grasshopper. The justices said that the 6th amendment guarantees criminal defendants in state court the right to a lawyer. The constitutional legacy of this case is primarily just that it protected the rights of those accused of crimes, ensuring that all defendants will have an option to be represented by an attorney.

Looks like our time machine brought us to 1973! Roe Raccoon was pregnant, and had a baby inside of her. She wanted to get an abortion, but it was illegal at the time in Texas, where Roe Raccoon lived. She fought District attorney of Dallas County, Wade Worm, all the way up to the Supreme Court. She claimed that the anti-abortion law was unconstitutional, because it violated her right to privacy, protected by the 1st, 4th, 9th, and 14th amendments.

And the Supreme Court sided with: Roe Raccoon! The justices said that the 14th amendment protects women's right to get an abortion, however the also said that states can ban abortions in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and place regulations on abortions during the 2nd trimester. The constitutional legacy of this case is complicated, because abortions are still a controversial topic today, but this case essentially gave women a new constitutional right, ensuring they have

an opportunity to get an abortion.

Now we're in 2010! I'm wearing my helmet, because this case is about guns! Mr. McDonald Duck wanted to buy a handgun to protect himself, because his house was always getting broken into. Only problem was: there was a city-wide ban on handguns in Chicago from 1982. He believed that this ban violated his 2nd amendment right to bear arms. He fought in the courts and eventually got it to the Supreme Court.