11 named examples with their significance, drawn from the Panther database. Read them, then test yourself.
In test mode, tap an example to reveal why it matters.
The examples
Affordable Care Act: Survival Under Attack (2010-present)(2015)(tap to reveal)- Survived NFIB v Sebelius (2012) 5-4. Survived King v Burwell (2015). 50+ House repeal votes. Senate repeal failed 51-49 (McCain). Shows interaction of all three branches. Roberts upheld despite being conservative appointee.
Dobbs v Jackson: Roe v Wade Overturned (2022)(2024)(tap to reveal)- 6-3 ruling overturned 50 years of precedent. 13 states immediately banned abortion. Split entirely along partisan lines. ER 2024 praised Dobbs as the top case for political nature of Supreme Court. Note: Dobbs came AFTER Obergefell - a common student error. Result of 40-year Federalist Society strategy.
Electoral College: 2000, 2016, and 2024(2024)(tap to reveal)- 3 presidents in 25 years won EC without popular vote majority (Bush 2000 -0.5m, Trump 2016 -2.9m). 2024: Trump won both. Shows Electoral College distorts democratic representation. Use for reform debates and federalism.
Federalism in Practice: Texas and California as Competing Models (2020-present)(2021)(tap to reveal)- Texas: SB8 abortion ban (2021), looser gun laws. California: abortion rights enshrined, stricter gun laws. Shows 'laboratories of democracy' model in practice but also fragmentation of civil rights across states.
Laken Riley Act 2025 - detention without bail for charged non-citizens(2025)(tap to reveal)- Laken Riley Act 2025 - non-citizens charged with theft subject to mandatory detention without bail.
NYSRPA v Bruen: Second Amendment and Gun Rights (2022)(2022)(tap to reveal)- In Bruen (2022) the Supreme Court struck down New York's concealed-carry permit law 6-3, extending Second Amendment rights to carrying guns in public for the first time since Heller.
New Deal and Great Society: Federal Power Expansion (1933-68)(2025)(tap to reveal)- FDR's New Deal (1933): federal government took responsibility for economic recovery, social security, banking regulation. LBJ's Great Society (1965): Medicare, Medicaid, federal education funding. ER 2025 praised use of New Deal/Great Society as historical evidence that federalism is not in decline - federal power has expanded in waves. Essential for 'federalism is in decline' questions.
Obergefell v Hodges: Same-Sex Marriage (2015)(2025)(tap to reveal)- 5-4 ruling legalised same-sex marriage nationwide. Overrode state bans. Classic judicial activism example: Court found new right not in Constitution's original text. ER 2024 and 2025 both cited Obergefell as essential - always pair with Dobbs to show the Court both expands and contracts rights. Note: Obergefell (2015) came before Dobbs (2022).
Voting Rights Act and Voter Suppression (1965-present)(2025)(tap to reveal)- VRA 1965 banned discriminatory voting practices. Shelby County v Holder (2013) gutted Section 5 preclearance. Georgia passed SB202 (2021) restricting early voting and drop boxes. Note: ER 2025 said Shelby County is commonly misquoted - it removed federal pre-clearance requirements but did not ban the VRA. Shows Court can undermine congressional civil rights acts.
China and the Uyghur Crisis: Powerful States and HR Impunity (2017-)(tap to reveal)- Since 2017, China has detained over 1 million Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang in mass internment camps. Evidence of forced sterilisation, forced labour, and cultural erasure has been widely documented by UN bodies, NGOs, and Western governments. Several states (including the US and UK) have described it as genocide. China rejects the framing and uses 'Asian values' and counter-terrorism arguments to deflect criticism.
India Citizenship Amendment Act: Selective Human Rights (2019)(tap to reveal)- India's 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act granted citizenship to persecuted minorities from three neighbouring states (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan), but explicitly excluded Muslims. India claims to be a secular state; critics argued the Act directly contradicted this claim and violated the principle of religious non-discrimination in the UDHR.