Studied by 15 people
Marbury v. Madison
1803 - establishes the Supreme Court's power of Judicial Review
Dartmouth College v. Woodward
1819 - New Hampshire had attempted to take over Dartmouth College by revising its colonial charter. The Court ruled that the charter was protected under the contract clause of the U. S. Constitution; upholds the sanctity of contracts.
McCulloch v. Maryland
1819 - established the supremacy of the national government over state governments. In deciding this case, Chief Justice John Marshall and his colleagues held that Congress had certain implied powers in addition to the enumerated powers found in the Constitution.
Cohens v. Virginia
1821 - asserted the right of the Supreme Court to review the decision of state supreme courts
Gibbons v. Ogden
1824 - Regulating interstate commerce is a power reserved to the federal government
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
1831 - Supreme Court refused to hear a suit filed by the Cherokee Nation against a Georgia law abolishing tribal legislature. Court said Indians were not foreign nations, and U.S. had broad powers over tribes but a responsibility for their welfare.
Commonwealth v. Hunt
1842 - Case heard by the Massachusetts supreme court. The case was the first judgement in the U.S. that recognized that the conspiracy law is inapplicable to unions and that strikes for a closed shop are legal. Also decided that unions are not responsible for the illegal acts of their members.
Dred Scott v. Sandford
1857 - Important Supreme court decision which decided that the federal government did not have the power to limit the spread of slavery in the territories.
Ex Parte Milligan
1866 - Ruled that a civilian cannot be tried in military courts while civil courts are available.
Texas v. White
1869 - Argued that Texas had never seceded because there is no provision in the Constitution for a state to secede, thus Texas should still be a state and not have to undergo reconstruction.
Munn v. Illinois
1876 - The Supreme Court upheld the Granger laws. The Munn case allowed states to regulate certain businesses within their borders, including railroads, and is commonly regarded as a milestone in the growth of federal government regulation.
US v. EC Knight
1895 - ruled that companies engaged in manufacturing rather than interstate commerce were to be regulated by state and not federal law, and could not be dismantled by the federal government
Plessy v. Ferguson
1896 - legalized state ordered segregation so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal
Muller v. Oregon
1908 - Supreme Court upheld Oregon state restrictions on the working hours of women as justified by the special state interest in protecting women's health
Schneck v. US
1919 - decision upholding the conviction of a socialist who had urged young men to resist the draft during world war one. Justice Holmes declared that government can limit speech if the speech provokes a "clear and present danger"
Adkins v. Children's Hospital
1923 - Supreme Court case that invalidated Muller v. Oregon, declaring that since women now had the vote, they were equal to men and undeserving of special protection
Gitlow v. New York
1925 - established selective incorporation of the Bill of rights; states cannot deny freedom of speech; protected through the 14th amendment
Korematsu v. US
1944 - Supreme Court case where the Supreme Court upheld the order providing for the relocation of Japanese Americans. It was not until 1988 that Congress formally apologized and agreed to pay $20,000 to each survivor
Brown v. Board of Education
1954 - segregation was a violation of the Equal Protection clause "separate but equal" has no place
Escobedo v. Illinois
1964 - ruled that a defendant must be allowed access to a lawyer before questioning by police.
Miranda v. Arizona
1966 - the accused must be notified of their rights before being questioned by the police
Bakke v. Board of Regents
1978 - reverse discrimination. US court case in which Bakke was denied to University of California Medical School twice to people less qualified based on race. Case determined that affirmative action is legal as long as filling quotas is not used.
Reed v. Reed
1971 - the supreme court for the first time upheld a claim of gender discrimination.
US v. Nixon
1974 - the President has no "executive privilege" of withholding evidence from court if they are criminal proceedings
Texas v. Johnson
1989 - the Supreme Court struck down a law banning the burning of the American flag on the grounds that such action was symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment.
