Supreme+Court+Cases

1803 - Marbury v. Madison  Marbury's appointment made by Madison was not transferred. Court ruled the Judicary Act of 1789 void; was unconstitutional.

 1810 - Fletcher v. Peck  Land grants are legal contracts and cannot be broken even if there it is found to be a fraud -- there were corruption.

 1819 - McCulloch v. Maryland  Upheld the Bank of the United States -- decided that it was constitutional to have a national bank. -- Showed the powers of Congress.

 1819 - Dartmouth College v. Woodward  Republicans try to turn Dartmouth into state college instead of a private college; Was under a contract so it did not happen.

 1823 - Johnson v. Macintosh  Pinakeshaw tribe sold lands to a number of people including Johnson but then the government began to grant homestead rights to white settlers such as Macintoch on the same lands. Ruled in favor of Macintoch (the U.S.). Claimed only the federal government had the right to buy/take lands from the natives.

 1824 - Gibbons v. Ogden  Increased Congress' powers to regulate interstate commerce -- Congress legislations are more powerful than state legislations.

 1832 - Worcester v. Georgia  States have no rights concerning the natives/tribes; only the federal governments do.

 1837 - Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge  Dispute over building a bridge between Boston & Cambridge; Taney's Decision -> State has the right to amend a contract if it is to advance the community.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1839-1841 - The Amistad Case <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Africans on a Spanish slave vessel destined to become Cuban slaves took control of the ship and tried to turn it around back to Africa; U.S. navy held Africans as pirates. Should the Africans be freed? 1841 - Declared free & abolitionists helped send them back to Africa.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1842 - Commonwealth v. Hunt <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In Massachusetts - Unions = lawful organizations; Strikes = lawful weapons.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1842 - Prigg v. Pennsylvania <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">States do not have to help return fugitive slaves to their owners.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1857 - The Dred Scott Decision <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Slave (Scott) should never have been allowed to bring the case to court; he was not considered a citizen and has no rights; Congress can not deprive a person of their "property".

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1896 - Plessy v. Ferguson <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Louisiana law made it mandatory for the separation of seating for different races in railroads - court ruled that if the seatings were equal for both races, then it is legal to have this law.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1898 - Williams v. Mississippi <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Made the passing of literacy tests in order to vote legal, Constitutional.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1899 - Cumming v. County Board of Education <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Court allowed there to be separation of schooling for kids based on race even though the schools made for whites were better than the schools made for the blacks.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1931 - 9 Black Teens v. 2 Women <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 9 black teens were accused of raping 2 white women in Alabama despite the evidence that said the two women were lying. Eight of the nine boys were given life sentences. In 1932, the Supreme Court overturned the decision.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1935 - National Labor Relations Board <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Supreme court shot down the National Industrial Recovery Act and Section 7(a)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1944 - Korematsu v. U.S. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Ruled that relocation of the Japanese did not violate the Constitution

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1953 - Rosenberg v. U.S. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Communist members who the gov claimed were behind a conspiracy -- were sentenced to death on the electric chair despite their claims that they were innocent.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1954 - Brown v. Board of Education <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Ruled for the desegregation of schools after having a case where a young black girl had to travel miles to go to a black school when she lives near a white school.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1957 - Roth v. U.S. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ruling limited the power of local governments to curb pornography.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1962 - Engel v. Vitale <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ruled that public prayers are unconstitutional.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1962 - Baker v. Carr <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Made it mandatory for state legislatures to proportion all electoral votes so that each vote by every citizen would be weighted the same instead of differentiated it according to whether they lived in urban areas of rural areas.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1963 - Gideon v. Wainwright <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Anyone accused of a crime has a right to a lawyer whether or not they can actually afford to pay them.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1964 - Escobedo v. Illinois <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A defendant has the right to keep silent during police interview until their lawyer is present.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1966 - Miranda v. Arizona <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Police must inform suspects of a crime their rights.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1969 - Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham Board of Education <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Southerners wanted to make the desegregation of schools unconstitutional - this court case refused to declare those laws unconstitutional.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1971 - Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ruled that it was constitutional to use forced busing in order to integrate the schools.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1972 - Furman v. Georgia <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Made new guidelines for capital punishment laws -- overturned the existing ones.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1973 - Roe v. Wade <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">Invalidated laws that prohibited abortion during the first three months of pregnancy because the constitution does not have the right to violate peoples’ “right to privacy”.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1974 - Milliken v. Bradley <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Rejected the idea of busing students into different districts in order to integrate schools.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1976 - Stone v. Powell <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Supported the limiting of rights for a defendant to appeal a state conviction.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 1978 - Bakke v. Board of Regents of California <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Although busing was still allowed, this court case resulted in restrictions on such programs that might form in the future.