-
Period: to
The Marshall Court
From 1801 till 1835, John Marshall was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. During his time as Cheif Justice, Marshall made the legislative branch of the Federal Goverment very powerful. In court cases, Marshall would often rule in favor of the federal government. -
Marbury v. Madison
This was the first U.S. Supreme Court case to apply the principle of "judicial review" or the power of federal courts to void acts of Congress in conflict with the Constitution. William Marbury had never recieved his commision from the gov't for being Justice of the Peace in D.C. Marbury therefore wanted a writ of mandamus issued, forcing the president to pay him. But due to the Judiciary Act of 1789 Marbury was denied his writ and commision. -
Darmouth vs. Woodward
The New Hampshire State Legislature attempted to make Darmouth College a state university. The Supreme Court ruled in a 6-1 ruling that the legslature could not interfere because of the Contract Clause ruling in favor of keeping Darmouth College as a private institution. -
Gibbons vs. Ogdon
In this landmark Supreme Court Case, The question of "who controlled interstate commerece, the federal government or the state governmet?" was answered. The Marshall Court had a 6-0 decision in the favor of Gibbons, clearing up the Commerce Clause, and ruling that the federal goverment determines interstate commerce, not the states. -
Dred Scott vs. Sandford
Dred Scott, a slave, was brought by his owner from Missuri, where slavery was legel, to Illonis where Slavery was illegal. Dred Scott sued his owner, believing that he had the right to freedom since he was in a state that outlawed slavery. The case went to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled in a 7-2 decision, that African Americans, both freed and enslaved, aren't American citizens, so they didn't have the right to sue somebody. -
Munn vs. Illionis
The Supreme Court approved state laws that regulated the prices farmers were charged for the use the grain elevator. The grain elevator argued that was being deprived of property as a person, and it violated the fourteenth amedment of depriving a person of property without due proccess of law. The Supreme Court opposed to this by saying that grain elevators were invested with a public interest and could be regulated. -
Reynolds v. United States
In this case George Reynolds was charged with bigamy under the Morrill Anti-Bigamy act which prevented plural marriage. He was a member of the LDS church however the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the U.S. They said that freedom of religion didn't also protect religious practices. It was a unanimous decision. -
Wabash vs. Illnios
In 1886, The Supreme Court ruled in Wabash v, Illinois that state legislatures couldn't pass laws to regulate the prices that farmers were charged by railroads for using the grain elevators.This ruling completely opposed the ruling that they made nine years ago. -
E.C. Knight Company v. U.S.
An 8-1 decision by the Supreme Court defended the American Sugar Refinery Company in that they weren't violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. This act was used to prevent monopolies, and while this company was one, the Supreme Court ruled that they had a monopoly in manufactering their product. However, Congress can only regulate interstate trade and as per the Court the company didn't have a monopoly in interstate trade. -
Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.
In a ruling of 5-4, in Pollocks' favor, the Supreme Court stated that the income taxes imposed by the Wilson-Gorman tariff were unconstituional. This is because they violated the provision that said the income tax should be apportioned to the states population. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
At a vote of 7-1 the court ruled that the state laws, that racially segregated public facilaties under the separate but equal clause, were in fact constitutional. This allowed Sothern states to separate whites from blacks in public places such as buses, bathrooms, and schools. However, these were far from equal. This remained in use by the South until 1954 when it was reversed by the court case of Brown v. Board of Education. -
Lochner v. NY
Involved a NY law that limited the number of hours a baker could work each day to ten, and limited the weekly working hours to 60. By a 5-4 vote the court rejected it. They said that this law would interfere with labor contracts and this was a right held by employers under the 14th amendment. -
Muller v. Oregon
Curt Muller appeals to the Supreme Court after he was fined for violating labor laws in his laundromat business. Made his females employees work more than ten hours. Women's side argued by Louis Brandeis in his Brandeis Brief who got testimonies from doctors saying women couldn't stand for too long and still give birth. Court upheld the ruling against Muller. -
Hammer v. Dagenhart
In 1916, Congress passed the Keating-Owen Act to ban child labor. The act banned the interstate commerce of products made by children. In 1918, the Supreme Court case Hammer v. Dagenhart overturned the Keating-Owen Act by giving manufactures the right to regulate child labor. -
Schneck vs. U.S
Charles Schneck, a socialist, encouraged servicemen to repel the draft by making leaflets and giving them to drafted men to protest the draft. Schneck was arrested under the Espionage Act and appealed to the Supreme Court. The court upheld the ruling saying that although Scheneck was covered under the First Amendemt, he commited a crime that presented a "clear and present danger". So, he was eligible to be punished. -
U.S. v. Wheeler
8-1 ruling interpreting the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Constitution. The court ruled that only the states, not the federal gov't, had the authority to prosecute kidnappers. Only state gov't's could punish a citizen's unlawful violation of another's freedom of movement. -
Adkins v. Children's Hospital
This supreme court case overturned a law in passed in 1918 that was passed to establish a minimum wage for women and children. In a 5-3 decision the court said that the minimum wage violated the Due Process Clause of the 5th amendment. -
Scopes Trial
John Scopes, a biology teacher in Dayton Tennesse, is fined $100 for teaching evolution. Even though it was banned in the town. This became a very popular trail over the teaching of evolution and resulting in a clash between traditional and modern America during the 1920's. In the end, Scopes lost and was fined, but that was later repealled. -
Scottsboro Trial
Nine African-American teenage boys were falsely charged with the rape of two white woman in Alabama. At first, 8 of the 9 boys were sentanced to death. In 1932, the U.S Supreme Court overturned the verdict of the case. The boys were retried and found guilty again. After continoues reconvitions and appeals, the Supreme Court ruled that the state exclueded blacks from the juries and pardoned the four youngest boys. The rest served jail sentances. -
Schechter v. US
Court overturned NIRA proving it unconstitutional, and with NIRA went all of the organizations that had formed under it, such as the NRA. The court said it violated a lot of the checks and balances in the gov't because it gave the executive branch a ton of power. -
Butler vs. U.S.
The Agricultural Ajustment Act of 1933 taxed farm processors of farming products, and the proceeds went towards paying farmers to reduce their crops and area. THhs would cause the price of certain farm products to raise, and the money gained would go to farmers. Butler vs. U.S declared the Agircultural Adjustment Act of 1933 Unconstitutional under the 10th Amendment because congress doesn't have the power to tax to use powers that states have. -
Korematsu v. U.S.
This court case concerened the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066. This order moved Japanese-Americans mostly on the west coast regarless of their citizenship. In a 6-3 vote the order was upheld, the court stated that the need to protect against espionage outweighed Korematsu's individual rights. -
Dennis v. United States
In 1948, Eleven members of the communist party were convicted of supporting the overthrow of the U.S. government and for violating a couple of points on the Smith Act. The convicted challenged thier conviction by saying that they were protected by the First Amendment. The Supreme Court ruled in 5-3 decision that they didn't have the right to practice free speech because they were planning to overthrow the government. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark Supreme Court case. The case was a combination of 5 cases all concering the issue of segragation in school. Chief Justice Earl Warren led the unanimous decision to overturn Plessy v. Furgeson, which declared seperate but equal facilities. The Courts reason was that the seperate but equal facilites were unequal. This case led to the intergration of public facilities. -
Gideon v. Wainwright
The Supreme Court overturned the Florida felony conviction of Clarence Earl Gideon, who had defended himself after having Clarence Gideon had been denied a request for free counsel while being on trial for a felony. The Court held that the state's failure to provide counsel for a defendant charged with a felony violated the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause. Gideon was given another trial, and with a court-appointed lawyer, defending him, he was acquitted. -
Miranda v. Arizona
5-4 ruling in favor of Miranda. This case gave America Miranda Rights. The court ruled that police had deprived him of many of the rights he is to know, such as the right to remain silent or the right to an attorney. -
Roe v. Wade
This case ruled a state law unconstitutionsl that banned abortions except to save the life of the mother. The Court ruled that the states were forbidden from outlawing or regulating any aspect of abortion performed during the first trimester of pregnancy. The court in a 7-2 ruling said that it interfered with a women's right to privacy held in the 14th amendment.
