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Florida Civic Literacy Exam (FCLE) Study Guide

Students should be able to recall, identify, and explain landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases, landmark legislation, and executive actions. They should also be able to explain their impact on law and society. Most landmark cases, legislation, and executive actions are drawn from Florida’s K-12 civics, U.S. government, and U.S. history course content. 

Landmark Impact on Law and Society Slides and Recorded Lecture

These slides and the recorded presentation have been shared from Miami-Dade University

Judicial Branch: Case Law

The landmark rulings listed below may be linked to FCLE questions. Each case has been paired with the best resources our subject matter experts have compiled.    

Landmark Supreme Court Decisions

Marbury v. Madison (1803)  

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)  

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)  

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) 

Schenck v. U.S. (1919) 

  • Established that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment does not protect speech deemed as a "clear and present danger" which Congress has the power to prevent. 

Korematsu v. United States (1944) 

  • Korematsu v US video 

  • Established that the exclusion order of Americans of Japanese descent during WWII was lawful and did not show racial prejudice. 

Brown v. Board (1954) 

Mapp v. Ohio (1961) 

  • Mapp v. Ohio [SCOTUSbrief] - YouTube 

  • Established that all evidence in a criminal case obtained by searches and seizures in violation of the Fourth Amendment will be rendered inadmissible in state court. 

Baker v. Carr (1962) 

  • Baker v Carr 

  • Established that state reapportionment claims are justiciable in federal court. 

Engel v. Vitale (1962) 

  • Engle v Vitale OYEZ 

  • Established that the state cannot hold prayers in public schools, even if participation is not required and the prayer is not tied to a particular religion. 

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) 

Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 

  • Miranda v Arizona Video 

  • The Fifth Amendment requires that law enforcement officials advise suspects of their right to remain silent and to obtain an attorney during interrogations while in police custody. 

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) 

  • Tinker v. Des Moines [SCOTUSbrief] - YouTube 

  • Established that the students did not lose their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech when they stepped onto school property. In order to justify the suppression of speech, the school officials must be able to prove that the conduct in question would "materially and substantially interfere" with the operation of the school. 

New York Times v. United States (1971) 

  • New York Times v United States 

  • Established that the vague word "security" should not be used to "abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the First Amendment." 

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) 

Roe v. Wade (1973) 

  • Roe v Wade Video 

  • Established that inherent in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is a fundamental “right to privacy” that protects a pregnant woman’s choice whether to have an abortion. However, this right is balanced against the government’s interests in protecting women's health and protecting “the potentiality of human life.” 

United States v. Nixon (1974) 

  • United States v Nixon OYEZ 

  • By unanimous decision the Court held that neither the doctrine of separation of powers, nor the generalized need for confidentiality of high-level communications, without more, can sustain an absolute, unqualified, presidential privilege. 

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) 

  • Regents of the University of California v. Bakke | BRI's Homework Help Series - YouTube 

  • There was no single majority opinion in this case. Four of the justices contended that any racial quota system supported by the government violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The remaining four justices held that the use of race as a criterion in admissions decisions in higher education was constitutionally permissible. The Court managed to minimize white opposition to the goal of equality (by finding for Bakke) while extending gains for racial minorities through affirmative action. 

Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988) 

  • Haze lwood v. Kuhlmeier [SCOTUSbrief] - YouTube 

  • The Court held that the First Amendment did not require schools to affirmatively promote particular types of student speech. Educators did not offend the First Amendment by exercising editorial control over the content of student speech so long as their actions were "reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns." 

Texas v. Johnson (1989) 

  • Texas v. Johnson [SCOTUSbrief] - YouTube 

  • The Court held that Johnson's burning of an American flag was protected expression under the First Amendment. The Court found that Johnson's actions fell into the category of expressive conduct and had a distinctively political nature. The fact that an audience takes offense to certain ideas or expression, the Court found, does not justify prohibitions of speech. 

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

  • Shaw v Reno OYEZ 
  • The Court held that although North Carolina's reapportionment plan was racially neutral on its face, the resulting district shape was bizarre enough to suggest that it constituted an effort to separate voters into different districts based on race. 

U.S. v. Lopez (1995) 

  • US v Lopez Video  
  • Held that possession of a gun in a local school zone is not an economic activity that might, through repetition elsewhere, have a substantial effect on interstate commerce. The law is a criminal statute that has nothing to do with "commerce" or any sort of economic activity. 

Bush v. Gore (2000) 

  • Bush v. Gore | BRI's Homework Help Series - YouTube 

  • Noting that the Equal Protection clause guarantees individuals that their ballots cannot be devalued by "later arbitrary and disparate treatment," the per curium opinion held 7-2 that the Florida Supreme Court's scheme for recounting ballots was unconstitutional. Even if the recount was fair in theory, it was unfair in practice. The record suggested that different standards were applied from ballot to ballot, precinct to precinct, and county to county. 

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) 

McDonald v. Chicago (2010) 

Citizens United v. FEC (2010) 

Legislative Branch: Laws

The United States Congress has passed tens of thousands of bills since its first session in 1789. Since then, Congress has enacted numerous statutes considered to be landmark legislation, that is, laws which have had a significant impact on the American people. To be active participants in the governing process, students are first required to have some knowledge of these seminal events in American history. 

Landmark Legislation

Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798:

Civil Rights Act of 1875

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Compromise of 1850

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

  • The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. It also produced a violent uprising known as “Bleeding Kansas,” as proslavery and antislavery activists flooded into the territories to sway the vote. 
  • U.S. Senate: The Kansas-Nebraska Act 

Homestead Act of 1862

New Deal-related Acts

Great Society-related Acts

Tonkin Gulf Resolution of 1964

Clean Air Act of 1970

  • This legislation authorized the development of comprehensive federal and state regulations to limit emissions from both stationary (industrial) sources and mobile sources. 
  • Summary of the Clean Air Act | US EPA 

USA PATRIOT Act of 2001

  • Prohibits knowingly harboring persons who have committed or are about to commit a variety of terrorist offenses, such as: destruction of aircraft; use of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons; use of weapons of mass destruction; bombing of government property; sabotage of nuclear facilities; and aircraft piracy. 
  • Patriot Act (history.com) 

 Affordable Care Act of 2010

  • The comprehensive health care reform law enacted in March 2010 (sometimes known as ACA, PPACA, or “Obamacare”). Made affordable health insurance available to more people. The law provides consumers with subsidies that lower costs for households with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level. 
  • About the ACA | HHS.gov 

Executive Branch: Orders and Treaties

The office of President of the United States is one of the most recognizable in the world. Students should recognize the exercise of formal presidential power, and should be able to recall, identify, and explain landmark Executive Orders and Treaties, significant constitutional powers that are granted to the president.  

Important Executive Actions

Executive Orders Explained Executive Orders 101

Treaty of Paris 1783

  • Treaty of Paris: Primary Documents in American History: The Treaty of Paris was signed by U.S. and British Representatives on September 3, 1783, ending the War of the American Revolution. 
  • Treaty of Paris: History Channel   

Louisiana Purchase 1803

Adams-Onis Treaty 1819

President Lincoln’s suspension of Habeas Corpus

Japanese American Internment Executive Order

  • Issued by President Franklin Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, this order authorized the forced removal of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to "relocation centers" further inland – resulting in the incarceration of thousands of Japanese Americans. 
  • Japanese-American Internment | Harry S. Truman (trumanlibrary.gov)  

President Bush’s suspension of Habeas Corpus

  • Should the Military Commissions Act of 2006 be interpreted to strip federal courts of jurisdiction over habeas petitions filed by foreign citizens detained at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? 
  • The Court weighs in . . . OYEZ 

The Bully Pulpit

Desegregation of the Military

Affirmative Action and Civil Rights