AP U.S. History/Government
Supreme Court Cases Project
(Varcoe - 2003-2004)
Supreme Court Case Web Sites
Supreme
Court Cases by Date, Case
Wikipedia Encyclopedia: List of Supreme Court Cases
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_cases
Lots of details and many cases
listed
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Landmark Supreme Court Cases Website
http://www.landmarkcases.org/index.html
Supreme Court Cases by Topic
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/topic.htm
Civil rights is a listed topic.
Important Individual Cases
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/conlaw.htm
Supreme Court Cases
http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/CaseSummary.html
Summaries of important cases with links.
Supreme Court Search Engine
http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html
Supreme Court Cases by Date, Case
Fletcher v. Peck (1810, Marshall)
The decision stems from the Yazoo land cases, 1803, and
upholds the sanctity of contracts.
Fletcher
v. Peck
Fletcher v. Peck
- Wikipedia
Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819, Marshall)
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.
Trustees
of Dartmouth College v. Woodward
Dartmouth
College v. Woodward (1819)
Dartmouth
College v. Woodward (1819) - Wikipedia
Johnson v. McIntosh (1823, Marshall)
Established that Indian tribes had rights to tribal lands that preceded all
other American law; only the federal government could take land from the
tribes.
Johnson
v. McIntosh - Professor
Benedict Kingsbury, New York University School of Law
JOHNSON
V. McINTOSH - Native American Constitution and Law Digitization Project
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824, Marshall)
Clarified the commerce clause and affirmed
Congressional power over interstate commerce
Gibbons
v. Ogden - Street Law and the Supreme Court Historical
Society
Gibbons
v. Ogden (1824)
Commerce Clause
- Wikipedia
Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
The freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights are restrictions on the federal
government alone; state governments are not necessarily bound by them
Barron v. Baltimore - Wikipedia
Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1837, Taney)
The interests of the community are more important than the
interests of business; the supremacy of society’s interest over private
interest.
Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge
Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842)
Declared that labor unions were lawful organizations and that
the strike was a lawful weapon.
Ex parte Milligan (1866)
Ruled that a civilian cannot be tried in military courts while
civil courts are available.
Ex parte Milligan - Wikipedia
Civil Rights Cases of 1883
(A single decision on a group of cases with similar legal
problems). Legalized segregation with regard to private property.
Civil Rights Cases - Wikipedia
Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Railway Co. v. Illinois
(1886)
Declared state-passed Granger laws that regulated interstate
commerce unconstitutional.
Knights of Labor - Wikipedia
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Co. v. Minnesota
(1890)
Found that Granger law regulations were violations of the 5th
Amendment right to property.
Chicago,
Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Co. v. Minnesota
Scroll nearly 2/3 of the way down the page.
Pollock v. The Farmers’ Loan and Trust Co. (1895)
Declared the income tax under the Wilson-Gorman Tariff to be
unconstitutional.
Pollock v. Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, 157 U.S. 429 (1895)
Pollock v. Farmers' Loan and Trust Company (Rehearing), 158 U.S. 601 (1895)
Pollock
v. Farmer's Loan and Trust Company - Wikipedia
U. S. v. E. C. Knight Co. (1895)
Due to a narrow interpretation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act,
the Court undermined the authority of the federal government to act against
monopolies.
United States v. E. C. Knight Company, 156 U.S. 1 (1895)
United States v. E. C. Knight Company - Wikipedia
United States v. Wong Kim Ark 1898
Citizenship and race
"Insular Cases" / Downes v. Bidwell (1901)
Confirmed the right of the federal government to place tariffs
on good entering the U. S. From U. S. Territories on the grounds that
"the Constitution does not follow the flag."
Insular Cases
Northern Securities Co. v. U. S. (1904)
Re-established the authority of the federal government to fight
monopolies under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
Northern Securities Co. v. United States, 193 U.S. 197 (1904)
Lochner v. New York (1905)
Declared unconstitutional a
New York act limiting the working hours of bakers due to a denial of the 14th
Amendment rights.
Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905)
Lochner v.
New York - Wikipedia
Muller v. Oregon (1908)
First case to use the
"Brandeis brief"; recognized a 10-hour work day for women laundry
workers on the grounds of health and community concerns.
Muller
v. Oregon, 208 U.S. 412 (1908)
Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918)
Declared the Keating-Owen Act
(a child labor act) unconstitutional on the grounds that it was an invasion of
state authority.
Hammer v. Dagenhart, 247 U.S. 251 (1918)
Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923)
Declared
unconstitutional a minimum wage law for women on the grounds that it denied
women freedom of contract.
Adkins
v. Children's Hospital, 261 U.S. 525 (1923)
Gitlow v. New York (1925)
Decided 14th amendment applied to states also in terms of
freedom of expression
Gitlow
v. New York (1925)
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/140/
Schechter v. U. S. (1936)
Sometimes called "the
sick chicken case." Unanimously declared the National Industrial Recovery
Act (NIRA) unconstitutional on three grounds: that the act delegated
legislative power to the executive; that there was a lack of constitutional
authority for such legislation; and that it sought to regulate businesses that
were wholly intrastate in character.
Schechter v. U. S.
(1936)
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/345/
Ex parte Endo (1944)
The court forbade the internment of
Japanese-Americans born in the U. S. (Nisei)
Korematsu
v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944)
Engel v. Wainwright (1962)
Determined school prayer, even when relatively non-denominational and
voluntary, is unconstitutional
Baker v. Carr (1961)
Reapportionment issues (attempts to change the way voting districts are
deliminated) does present a federal question, thus enabling federal courts to
decide reapportionment cases
Baker v. Carr
(1961)
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/25/
Escobedo v. Illinois (1964)
Ruled that a defendant must
be allowed access to a lawyer before questioning by police.
Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478 (1964)
Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)
Brandenburg was a Ku Klux Klan leader convicted of advocating violence under
Ohio's Criminal Syndicalism law. The court overturned his conviction on the
grounds of the statute violating the 1st and the 14th amendments.
Brandenburg
v. Ohio (1969)
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/47/
U. S. v. Richard Nixon (1974)
The court rejected Richard
Nixon’s claim to an absolutely unqualified privilege against any judicial
process.
United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974)
United States v.
Nixon
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/410/
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke(1978)
Ambiguous ruling by a badly divided court that dealt with affirmative action
programs that used race as a basis of selecting participants. The court
general upheld affirmative action, but with a 4/4/1 split, it was a very weak
decision.
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978)
Regents
of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/324/
Site with summary and biographies of the justices
involved in the cases (with photos)
Regents
of the University of California v. Bakke
http://www.civnet.org/resources/teach/basic/part6/41.htm
Excellent historical summary, plus the decision
of the case
Regents
of the University of California v. Bakke
http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/R/RegentsU1.asp
Great site with connections to articles from
newspapers and magazines about the case
Regents
of the University of California v. Bakke
http://www.landmarkcases.org/bakke/home.html
Detailed site with lots of connections to other avenues
to explore the case
United States v. Eichman (1990)
The Court struck down the law against flag burning, stating that it was a
gross violation of the freedom of expression guaranteed in the 1st Amendment
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania et al. v.
Casey, Governor of Pennsylvania, et al. (1992)
Overturned the strict trimester formula, and emphasized the right to abortion
as grounded in the general sense of liberty protected under the Due Process
Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, rather than a
generalized right to privacy.
Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000)
The Supreme Court held that the lower court's decision, to readmit assistant
scoutmaster James Dale, who had been expelled after publicly declaring his
homosexuality, unconstitutionally violated the Boy Scouts' rights,
specifically the right of free association, which allows a private
organization to exclude whomever it wishes
Bush v. Gore (2000)
The court decided a recount of the votes in Florida was not feasible within
the current statute and that, as first counted, electoral votes from Florida
should go to George W. Bush
Union
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