Supreme Court Cases

United States v. Thomas Cooper

1800

United States v. Thomas Cooper

Cooper wrote a broadside a printed pamphlet or flyer that harshly criticized Adams, partly in response to a negative article about himself that was published in the Reading (Pennsylvania) Advertiser.

Marbury v. Madison

1803

Marbury v. Madison

Marbury, who had been appointed as a federal judge by outgoing President John Adams, did not receive his official commission because the new Secretary of State, Madison (under President Thomas Jefferson), refused to deliver it. Marbury sued, asking the Supreme Court to issue a writ compelling Madison to deliver his commission.

Fletcher v. Peck

1810

Fletcher v. Peck

Arose from a land scandal known as the Yazoo Land Fraud in Georgia. In 1795, the Georgia state legislature sold 35 million acres of land (in present-day Alabama and Mississippi) to private companies at extremely low prices, but it was later revealed that the sales were secured through bribery and corruption. The case began when John Peck, who had purchased some of this land from the original buyers, resold it to Robert Fletcher. Fletcher later discovered that the original sale had been declared invalid and sued Peck, claiming that Peck had no legal right to sell him the land.

Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee

1816

Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee

Dispute over land in Virginia that arose after the American Revolutionary War. The case centered around land that had been inherited by Denny Martin, a British subject, under a British family’s will. However, Virginia had passed laws during and after the war that confiscated land owned by British loyalists, allowing David Hunter to claim ownership of the land under Virginia’s laws. Martin argued that his ownership was protected by the Treaty of Paris (1783) and Jay's Treaty (1794), which safeguarded British property rights in the United States.

McCulloch v. Maryland

1819

McColluch v. Maryland

Supreme Court case that arose from a conflict over the creation and operation of the Second Bank of the United States. Congress had established the bank to help manage the country’s finances, but many states, including Maryland, opposed its presence, viewing it as a threat to state authority. Maryland passed a law imposing a tax on the bank, and James McCulloch, a bank official, refused to pay the tax.

Cohens v. Virginia

1821

Cohens v. Virginia

Supreme Court case that tested the balance of power between state and federal courts. The case involved the Cohen brothers, who were convicted in Virginia for selling lottery tickets for a lottery authorized by Congress in Washington, D.C. Virginia argued that its law prohibiting the sale of out-of-state lottery tickets was enforceable and that its court’s decision was final.

Worcester v. Georgia

1832

Worcester v. Georgia

Samuel Worcester, a missionary living on Cherokee land, was convicted under a Georgia law that required non-Native Americans to obtain a state license to live in Cherokee territory. Worcester argued that Georgia’s law was unconstitutional because it violated federal treaties recognizing the Cherokee Nation's sovereignty.

Prigg v. Pennsylvania

1842

Prigg v. Pennsylvania

Supreme Court case that addressed the conflict between federal and state authority over the return of escaped enslaved people. The case began when Edward Prigg, a federal agent, captured Margaret Morgan, an African American woman living in Pennsylvania who was alleged to have escaped slavery in Maryland. Prigg was convicted under Pennsylvania law, but he appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 gave the federal government exclusive authority over the capture and return of escaped enslaved people.