Landmark Supreme Court Cases Explained
Understand the Supreme Court cases behind your everyday rights. These plain-English case summaries explain what happened, what the Court decided, and why each ruling still matters for your phone, school, speech, privacy, police encounters, and more.
Riley v. California
More landmark cases.
Tinker v. Des Moines
Three students were suspended for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. The Court held that students keep their free speech rights at school unless the speech would substantially disrupt it.
Read the breakdown →Mahanoy Area S.D. v. B.L.
A cheerleader’s off-campus Snapchat post led to a major student-speech ruling. The Court limited how far public schools can reach into students’ speech outside school.
Read the breakdown →Bethel v. Fraser
A student gave a speech filled with sexual innuendo at a school assembly. The Court ruled that schools may punish lewd or vulgar speech at school even without major disruption.
Read the breakdown →Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier
A principal pulled two pages from a high school newspaper over stories on teen pregnancy and divorce. The Court held schools may edit school-sponsored student speech for legitimate educational reasons.
Read the breakdown →Morse v. Frederick
A student displayed the “BONG HiTS 4 JESUS” banner during a school-supervised event. The Court allowed schools to restrict student speech reasonably viewed as promoting illegal drug use.
Read the breakdown →Frazier v. Cupp
Police falsely told a suspect that his cousin had confessed. The Court held that a lie about evidence, by itself, does not automatically make a confession involuntary.
Read the breakdown →Miranda v. Arizona
The case behind “You have the right to remain silent.” The Court required police to warn suspects of key constitutional rights before custodial interrogation.
Read the breakdown →Berghuis v. Thompkins
A murder suspect sat nearly silent through almost three hours of questioning, then answered “Yes” when asked if he prayed for forgiveness. The Court held you must clearly say you are invoking your right to remain silent.
Read the breakdown →Vega v. Tekoh
A deputy questioned hospital worker Terence Tekoh without Miranda warnings, and Tekoh sued after a jury acquitted him. The Court held a Miranda violation alone does not allow a federal damages lawsuit.
Read the breakdown →J.D.B. v. North Carolina
Police questioned a 13-year-old in a closed school conference room without Miranda warnings. The Court held that a child’s age counts in deciding whether a suspect is in custody.
Read the breakdown →Lynumn v. Illinois
Police threatened a mother that she could lose her children and benefits unless she cooperated. The Court ruled that the resulting confession was unconstitutionally coerced.
Read the breakdown →Carpenter v. United States
Police obtained months of cell-phone location records without a warrant. The Court ruled that accessing extensive historical location data generally requires a warrant.
Read the breakdown →Katz v. United States
The FBI bugged the outside of a public phone booth to record a gambler’s calls. The Court held that was a search needing a warrant, because the Fourth Amendment protects people, not places.
Read the breakdown →United States v. Jones
Agents secretly attached a GPS tracker to a suspect’s Jeep and followed it for 28 days. The Court held that attaching and using the device was a Fourth Amendment search.
Read the breakdown →New Jersey v. T.L.O.
A vice principal searched a 14-year-old’s purse after she was caught smoking. The Court held that public schools need reasonable suspicion, not a warrant, to search a student.
Read the breakdown →Safford v. Redding
School officials strip searched a 13-year-old for ibuprofen and found nothing. The Court held the search unconstitutional, but shielded the officials from damages through qualified immunity.
Read the breakdown →