APUSH Supreme Court Cases

Marbury v Madison

A landmark 1803 case that established the principle of judicial review, allowing the Supreme Court to invalidate laws that are unconstitutional.

Mcculloch v Maryland

A significant 1819 Supreme Court case that confirmed the federal government's implied powers and upheld the constitutionality of the Second Bank of the United States, affirming the supremacy of federal over state law. (States can’t tax fed government)

Gibbons v Ogden

A pivotal 1824 Supreme Court case that reinforced federal control over interstate commerce, ruling that states cannot regulate navigable waters and affirming the broad interpretation of the Commerce Clause.

Cherokee Nation v Georgia

A 1831 Supreme Court case that addressed the status of Native American tribes, ruling that the Cherokee Nation was not a foreign nation but rather a domestic dependent nation, which limited their ability to sue in federal court.

Worcester v Georgia

A landmark 1832 Supreme Court case that ruled the state of Georgia could not impose its laws on Native American lands, affirming the sovereignty of Native American nations and their right to self-govern.

Dred Scott v Sandford

Supreme Court case from 1857 which held that individuals of African descent, whether enslaved or free, were not considered American citizens and, thus, did not have the right to file lawsuits in federal courts.

Plessy v Ferguson

Supreme Court case decided in 1896 that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities under the doctrine of "separate but equal." This decision legitimized state laws re-establishing racial discrimination and was not overturned until the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

Schenck v United States

A pivotal Supreme Court case from 1919 that addressed the limits of free speech under the First Amendment during wartime. Unanimously upheld the Espionage Act of 1917 which declared that people who interfered with the war effort were subject to imprisonment: declared that the first Amendment right to freedom and speech was not absolute.

Korematsu v United States

A landmark Supreme Court case decided in 1944 concerning the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which authorized the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

A landmark Supreme Court case decided in 1954 that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

Escobedo v Illinois

As soon as someone is in the custody of law enforcement, he or she has a Sixth Amendment right to speak to an attorney.

Miranda v Arizona

Prior to any questioning, the person must be warned that he has a right to remain silent

Roe v Wade

A landmark 1973 Supreme Court case that recognized a woman's constitutional right to have an abortion under the right to privacy, effectively legalizing abortion across the United States.

United States v Nixon

A landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court unanimously ordered President Richard Nixon to deliver tape recordings and other subpoenaed materials related to the Watergate scandal to a federal district court.