Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Established the power of judicial review in finding that a congressional statute extending the Court's original jurisdiction was unconstitutional (Marshall Court)

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Allowed Congress to establish a national bank via implied powers from the "necessary and proper clause" and stopped Maryland from taxing the national bank as violation of Supremacy Clause (Marshall Court)

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

Ferry boat case; only Congress is granted the power to regulate interstate commerce by the Commerce Clause of the Constitution (Marshall Court)

Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)

Ruled slaves were not citizens under the Constitution; struck down Missouri Compromise (Taney Court)

Reynolds v. United States (1879)

Upheld federal ban on polygamy because it is not protected by the free exercise clause; government can punish criminal activity without regard to religious belief (Waite Court)

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Upheld state-imposed racial segregation; "separate but equal" doctrine (Fuller Court)

Schenck v. United States (1919)

Upheld the Espionage Act; declared that 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech was not absolute; free speech could be limited if its exercise presented a "clear and present danger" (White Court)

Gitlow v. New York (1925)

Court recognized some limits on free speech, and established the selective incorporation of the Bill of rights (a.k.a. incorporation doctrine) through the 14th amendment; Bill of Rights can limit the states as well as the federal government (Taft Court)

West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnett (1943)

Ruled public school children (Jehovah's witnesses) cannot be compelled to salute the flag or recite the Pledge; violates 1st Amendment freedom of speech (Stone Court)

Korematsu v. United States (1944)

Upheld the U.S. government's decision to put Japanese-Americans in internment camps during World War II due to a clear and present danger (Stone Court)

Brown v. Board of Education I (1954)

Racial discrimination in public schools is unconstitutional; segregation psychologically damaging to black children; overturned "separate but equal" because it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment (Warren Court)

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Established the exclusionary rule; illegally obtained evidence cannot be used in court (Warren Court)

Baker v. Carr (1962)

Opened the door to equal protection challenges to redistricting and the development of the "one person, one vote" doctrine by ruling that challenges to redistricting did not raise "political questions" that would keep federal courts from reviewing such challenges (Warren Court)

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Prohibited state-sponsored recitation of prayer in public schools by virtue of 1st Amendment's establishment clause and the 14th Amendment's due process clause (Warren Court)

Abington School District v. Schempp (1963)

Prohibited school-sponsored devotional Bible reading in public schools because it violated the establishment clause and due process clause (Warren Court)

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Extended to the defendant the right of counsel in all state and federal criminal trials regardless of their ability to pay (Warren Court)

Wesberry v. Sanders (1963)

Established "one man, one vote;" ordered House districts to be as near equal in population as possible during reapportionment process (Warren Court)

Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States (1964)

Upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Congress can ban segregation in public accommodations via the commerce clause (Warren Court)

New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)

Ruled the 1st Amendment protects even false statements about public figures unless they can prove statements were made with "actual malice" and disregard for the truth (Warren Court)

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

Established right of privacy for married couples using birth control through 4th and 9th Amendments; set privacy precedent for Roe v. Wade (Warren Court)

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Criminal suspects must be informed of their right to consult with an attorney and of their right against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police; established Miranda warnings of counsel and silence. (Warren Court)

Loving v. Virginia (1967)

Struck down state's law banning interracial marriage as violation of the 14th Amendment equal protection clause (Warren Court)

Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)

1st and 14th Amendments protected speech advocating violence at KKK rally unless it directed or produced "imminent lawless action" (Warren Court)

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Upheld student's speech rights; wearing black arm bands in protest of Vietnam War is protected symbolic speech under the 1st Amendment (Warren Court)

Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)

Established the "Lemon Test" to determine if a government law or action is constitutional under the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment: 1) the law must have a legitimate secular purpose, 2) must neither advance nor inhibit religion, 3) and must not result in an excessive entanglement of government and religion (Burger Court)

New York Times v. United States (1971)

"Pentagon Papers;" government must prove actual harm to national security if it seeks prior restraint to censor the press (Burger Court)

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Compelling Amish students to attend school past the eighth grade violates the free exercise clause because it unduly limits their freedom of religious beliefs and practices

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Abortion rights fall within the privacy implied in the 14th amendment; women have total autonomy over pregnancy in the first trimester (Burger Court)

United States v. Nixon (1974)

The President has no absolute constitutional executive privilege to refuse to comply with a court order to produce information needed in a criminal trial (Burger Court)

Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

1st Amendment protects campaign spending; legislatures can limit contributions, but candidates can spend an unlimited amount of their own or family's money in campaigns (Burger Court)

Gregg v. Georgia (1976)

Death penalty is not "cruel and unusual punishment" in cases of murder (Burger Court)

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)

Upheld affirmative action, but ruled that racial quotas in college admissions are unconstitutional because they violate the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment (Burger Court)

Texas v. Johnson (1989)

Flag-burning is symbolic speech with a political purpose and is protected by 1st Amendment (Rehnquist Court)

Oregon Employment Division v. Smith (1990)

The state could deny unemployment benefits to a person fired for violating a state prohibition on the use of peyote, even though the use of the drug was part of a religious ritual (Rehnquist Court)

Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)

Struck down law requiring spousal notification prior to obtaining an abortion ; law invalid under the 14th Amendment because it created an undue burden on married women seeking an abortion; upheld requirements for parental consent, informed consent, and 24-hour waiting period were constitutionally valid regulations (Rehnquist Court)

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

The Court struck down North Carolina's redistricting plan to create a majority minority district along the I85 corridor violated the Equal Protection clause (14th Amendment) amounted to racial gerrymandering; however legislative redistricting must be conscious of race and ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965

United States v. Lopez (1995)

Struck down the Gun Free School Zones Act because Congress exceeded its authority to regulate interstate commerce; important federalism case (Rehnquist Court)

Bush v. Gore (2000)

Resolved 2000 presidential election by halting the Florida vote recount (Rehnquist Court)

Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)

Struck down use of "bonus points" for race in undergraduate admissions at University of Michigan (Rehnquist Court)

Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

Struck down state statute making same sex intercourse (sodomy) illegal because the law violates the due process clause of the 14 Amendment (Rehnquist Court)

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)

Ruled the 2nd Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm for lawful, private use (Roberts Court)

Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (2010)

Ruled that corporations and unions cannot be banned from spending money on a political campaign under the 1st Amendment; corporations and unions have the same free speech rights as individuals (Roberts Court)

National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012)

Upheld most of the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") including individual mandate under Congress's taxing power (Roberts Court)

Shelby County v. Holder (2013)

Struck down provision of Voting Rights Act of 1965 requiring states engaged in past discrimination to get federal preclearance before instituting changes in voting laws or practices; allowed restrictive state voter ID laws to go forward (Roberts Court)

United States v. Windsor (2013)

Struck down the federal Defense of Marriage of Marriage Act's (DOMA) restrictions of marriage rights to only heterosexual couples as unconstitutional violation of the 5th amendment due process clause; same sex married couples now receive federal benefits (Roberts Court)

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

Struck down state bans on same sex marriage. The 14th Amendment requires States to license a marriage between two people of the same sex. States must recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-State. (Roberts Court)

Brown v. Board of Education II (1955)

School districts and federal courts must implement the Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education, I (1954) "with all deliberate speed." (Warren Court)

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

The Court struck done a restrictive gun law in Chicago ruling that the 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense is applicable to the states. (Roberts Court)

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Amish parents challenged Wisconsin's law compelling all students to attend school past the eighth grade. The court ruled that the law violated free exercise clause of the 1st Amendment. (Burger Court)