AP U.S. Government and Politics · Free-response skill

Compare a case with a landmark ruling

The move. Compare an unfamiliar case with a named landmark case by finding what they share, stating the landmark holding, and applying its rule to the new facts.

How to do it

  1. Read the new case for three things: who acted against whom, which right is at stake, and what the court decided and why.
  2. Find the link to the landmark case. It is usually a shared right or clause, such as free speech, plus a shared setting or kind of fact, such as a public school or a political protest. Name it plainly in one sentence.
  3. State the landmark holding in your own words: who won and the rule the Court used. A rule is more useful than a story of the facts.
  4. Apply the rule to the new facts. Point to the specific detail in the new case that the rule turns on, and say which way that detail points.
  5. Compare the facts the rule cares about. Two cases can come out on different sides and still follow the same rule, if their facts differ in the way the rule turns on.
  6. On the exam the case you are given will be one you were not required to study, so practice this move on unfamiliar facts rather than memorizing case stories.

Practice prompt Try it

Fictional case summary: Avery v. Lakeview School District. During a heated city debate over closing a public park, high school junior Dana Avery wore a T-shirt to her public school reading Save Willow Park. Over the next two days, students argued loudly about the shirt in the halls, two fights broke out, and teachers stopped classes several times to restore order. The principal asked Avery to cover the shirt. She refused and was suspended. In this fictional case, the Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 for the school district, holding that the school did not violate Avery's First Amendment rights because her shirt had led to a substantial disruption of classes.

Read the fictional case summary. Then answer each part, using what you know about Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969).

  1. Name one thing the Avery case and Tinker v. Des Moines have in common.
  2. Tell who won in Tinker and what the Court said about the students' armbands.
  3. Tinker lets a public school limit student speech that substantially disrupts school. Use one fact from the Avery summary to show how that rule supports the school's side in Avery.
  4. Give one difference between the facts of Tinker and the facts of the Avery case.

Write each part, then check yourself against the checklist. Nothing you type here is saved or graded.

Check yourself and see a model answer

Checklist

Our own checklist of what a full answer does, one line per point. Tick each one your response earns.

0 of 4 points

Model answer, annotated

(a) Both cases involve public school students who were disciplined for wearing something with a political message, so both raise a First Amendment free speech claim at school.

  • Point 1 Names a real shared feature: a political message worn at a public school, raising free speech.

(b) The students won in Tinker. The Court said their black armbands protesting the Vietnam War were protected symbolic speech, and students keep their free speech rights at school.

  • Point 2 Says the students won and the armbands were protected speech.

(c) In Avery, two fights broke out and teachers had to stop classes several times. That is substantial disruption of school, so under the Tinker rule the school could limit the shirt.

  • Point 3 Points to the fights and stopped classes and ties them to the substantial disruption rule.

(d) In Tinker the armbands caused no substantial disruption, but in Avery the shirt led to fights and stopped classes.

  • Point 4 Gives a real difference in the facts: no disruption in Tinker, real disruption in Avery.