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Marbury v. Madison
The first time ever, that an act of Congress was ruled unconstitutional. The principle of judicial review was established. -
Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward
Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward The Court ruled that a state could not arbitrarily alter the terms of a contract. Although this case applied to a college, its implications widened in later years when the same principle was used to limit states' ability to interfere with business contracts. -
McCulloch v. Maryland
McMulloch v. Maryland The Court's ruling upheld the constitutionality of the creation of the Bank of the United States and denied to the states the power to tax such an institution because, as Justice John Marshall put it, "the power to tax is the power to destroy." -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott v. Sanford The Missouri Compromise was declared unconstitutional because it deprived a person of his property (a slave) without due process of law. This was only the second time that the Court had asserted the power of judicial review. The decision also stated that slaves are not citizens of any state or of the United States -
Munn v. Illinois
Munn v. Illinois States were allowed to regulate businesses when "a public interest" was involved. This principle was weakened by rulings in other cases in the late nineteenth century. -
U.S. v. E.C. Knight Co.
The court seriously impaired the government's ability to regulate monopolies by stating that manufacturing and commerce are not connected, and the Sherman Anti- Trust Act could not be applied to manufacturers. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
The Supreme Court's ruling in this case that state laws enforcing segregation by race are constitutional if accomodations are equal as well as separate, was eventually overturned by Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. -
Northern Securities Co. v. U.S.
The High Court backed government action against big businesses that restrained trade, in effect, putting teeth in the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. -
Muller v. Oregon
The Court ruled that a state could legislate maximum working hours based on evidence complied by attorney Louis Brandeis. -
Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey Et Al. v. U.S.
The Court dissolved the Standard Oil Trust not because of its size but because of its unreasonable restraint of trade. The principle involved is called "the rule of reason."http://beebo.org/smackerels/supreme-court-decisions.html -
Schenck v. U.S.
The Court upheld the World War I Espionage Act. In a landmark decision dealing with free speech, Justice Oliver W. Holmes said that a person who encourages draft resistance during a war is a "clear and present danger. -
Schechter v. U.S.
Invalidating the National Industrial Recovery Act of the New Deal, the Court declared that Congress could not delegate its powers to the President. -
Dennis Et Al. v. U.S.
The Supreme Court ruled the 1946 Smith Act constitutional; the act made it a crime to advocate the overthrow of the government by force. -
Oliver Brown, et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, et al.
In an example of sociological jurisprudence, the Court held unconstitutional laws enforcing segregated schools; it called for desegregation of schools "with all deliberate speed." -
Roth v. U.S
The ruling based obscenity decisions on whether a publication appeals to "prurient interests." The Court also said that obscene material is that which lacks any "redeeming social importance." -
Mapp v. Ohio
It was about police searching Dollree Mapp illegally because they believed she had illegal betting equipment. -
Baker v. Carr
Baker v. CarrIt was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that retreated from the Court's political question doctrine, deciding that redistricting (attempts to change the way voting districts are delineated) issues present justiciable questions, thus enabling federal courts to intervene in and to decide reapportionment cases. The defendants unsuccessfully argued that reapportionment of legislative districts is a "political question", and hence not a question that may be resolved by federal courts. -
Miranda v. Arizona
Government authorities need to inform people of their rights from the 5th amendment following an arrest and prior to an investigation. -
Furman v. Georgia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furman_v._Georgia
A decision that ruled on the requirement for a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. -
Roe v. Wade
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade
It was on the issue of abortion. the Court ruled that a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman's decision to have an abortion
