supreme court cases

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

doctrine of judicial review is established

Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)

upheld the validity of contracts (with reference to an attempt to change the charter of _____)

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

congress could charter a bank under the “necessary and proper” clause of the constitution

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

the federal government has the authority to regulate interstate commerce

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

federal jurisdiction over indian affairs is absolute, leaving no room for state authority; generally ignored by ____

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

congress cannot prohibit slavery in the territories; blacks are not citizens

Texas v. White (1869)

states cannot secede from the union

United States v. E.C. Knight Company (1895)

sherman anti-trust act does not apply to a trust that refined over 90% of the sugar sold in the US; later eroded by other decisions

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

announced acceptance of the doctrine of “separate but equal”

Insular Cases (1901)

territories gained in the spanish-american war were no longer to be considered “foreign countries” but neither were they assumed to be a part of the US; as territories were ruled by congress

Northern Securities Company v. United States (1904)

a holding company formed for the express purpose of limiting competition is guilty of restraint of trade and in violation of the federal anti-trust acts

Lochner v. New York (1905)

overturned a law limiting the number of hours a company may require a worker to work; said it infringed on the freedom of contracts

Muller v. Oregon (1908)

upheld an oregon law limiting the number of hours women could be employed in industry; to safeguard their childbearing ability

Bunting v. Oregon (1917)

extended the above ruling to include all industrial workers (10 hour day); overturned Lochner v. New York

Schenck v. United States (1919)

freedom of speech may be curtailed if exercising that right posed a “clear and present danger” to others or to the state

Schecter Poultry Corporation v. United States (1935)

declared the NIRA unconstitutional

United States v. Butler (1936)

delcared the Agricultural Adjustment Act unconstitutional

Smith v. Allwright (1944)

overruled practices like the “all-white” primary in choosing state and national officials

Korematsu v. United States (1944)

upheld the 1942 removal of japanese-americans to relocation centers in inland camps; declared within the combined war powers of congress

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954, 1955)

overturned the “separate but equal” ruling in Plessy; mandated that segregated facilities be eliminated “with all deliberate speed”

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

ended prayer in public schools

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

guaranteed defendants a court-appointed attorney if they were unable to pay for their own

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

struck down birth control regulation as an impermissible invasion of privacy

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

expanded the above ruling by adding that a suspect must also be informed of his right to remain silent

Roe v. Wade (1973)

legalized abortion through the second trimester of pregnancy