Supreme Court Cases: Landmark Decisions of the Supreme Court
The table below lists key Supreme Court cases, issues, and decisions that have had a lasting impact on the course of the nation’s history. Following the table, you will find a more detailed summary of each of these landmark Supreme Court cases.
| The Case | The Issues | The Supreme Courts Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Marbury v. Madison (1803) | Judicial Review, Checks and Balances | First decision to assert judicial review: the power of the Court to interpret the constitutionality of a law |
| McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) | Federalism, States’ Rights | Upheld the power of the national government and denied the right of a state to tax a federal agency. |
| Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) | Federalism, States’ Rights, Interstate Commerce | Upheld broad congressional power to legislate and regulate commerce between states. |
| Worcester v. Georgia (1832) | Federalism, States’ Rights; Native American Sovereignty | Ruled that Georgia had no power to pass laws affecting the Cherokees because federal jurisdiction over the Cherokees was exclusive. |
| Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) | Slavery, 5th Amendment, Citizens’ Rights | Ruled that slaves were property, not citizens and, therefore, Dred Scott was not entitled to use the courts. |
| Munn v. Illinois (1876) | 5th Amendment, Public Interest; States’ Rights | Upheld an Illinois law regulating railroad rates because the movement of grain was closely related to public interest. |
| Civil Rights Cases (1883) | 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause, Racial Discrimination | Stated that the 14th Amendment only applied to discriminatory action taken by states, not to discriminatory actions taken by individuals. |
| Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific R.R. v. Illinois (1886) | Federalism, Interstate Commerce | Struck down an Illinois law regulating interstate railroad rates, ruling that it infringed on the federal government’s exclusive control over interstate commerce. |
| United States v. E.C. Knight Co. (1895) | Sherman Antitrust Act, Federalism, States’ Rights | The Sherman Antitrust Act does not apply to manufacturers located within a single state, because under the 10th Amendment, states have the right to regulate “local activities.” |
| In Re Debs (1895) | Labor Strikes, Interstate Commerce | Ruled that the federal government had the authority to halt a railroad strike because it interfered with interstate commerce and delivery of the mail. |
| Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) | Segregation, 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause | Permitted segregated public facilities, arguing that separate but equal accommodations did not violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. |
| United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) | Immigration, citizenship,14th Amendment | Affirmed that under the 14th Amendment, all persons born in the United States are citizens of the United States. |
| Northern Securities Co. v. United States (1904) | Sherman Antitrust Act, Interstate Commerce | Sherman Antitrust Act could apply to any company that sought to eliminate competition in interstate commerce, including companies chartered within a single state. |
| Lochner v. New York (1905) | Labor conditions, property rights, 14th Amendment | Struck down a state law setting a 10-hour day for employees because the law interfered with an employee’s right to contract with an employer and violated the protection of liberty guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. |
| Muller v. Oregon (1908) | Women’s rights, Labor Conditions, 14th Amendment | In a departure from the Lochner case, the Court upheld a state law limiting women’s work hours, viewing women as a special class needing special protections. |
| Standard Oil of New Jersey v. United States (1911) | Antitrust | Ruled that Standard Oil was an illegal monopoly and ordered that it be dissolved into smaller, competing companies. |
| American Tobacco v. United States (1911) | Antitrust | Ruled that American Tobacco was an illegal monopoly and ordered that it be dissolved into smaller, competing companies. |
| Schenck v. United States (1919) | 1st Amendment freedom of speech, national security | The Court limited free speech in time of war, reasoning that freedom of speech can be limited if the words present a “clear and present danger” to the country. |
| Abrams v. United States (1919) | 1st Amendment freedom of speech, national security | Upheld the convictions of persons who distributed antigovernment literature in violation of the Espionage Act. But Justices Holmes and Brandeis dissented, urging more stringent protection of the 1st Amendment. |
| Gitlow v. New York (1925) | 1st Amendment freedoms of speech and press, 14th Amendment | Ruled that the freedoms of speech and press were “incorporated” and protected from impairment by the states by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. |
| Stromberg v. California (1931) | 1st Amendment freedom of speech, 14th Amendment | Overturned an anticommunist law that banned the public display of a red flag. This was the first time the Supreme Court struck down a state law under the 1st Amendment as applied to the states by the 14th Amendment. |
| Near v. Minnesota (1931) | 1st Amendment freedom of speech, 14th Amendment | The Supreme Court struck down a Minnesota state law, ruling that it infringed upon freedom of the press, guaranteed by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. |
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