Supreme Court Cases

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Marshall Court

1801 - 1835

Chief Justice John Marshall

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

1803

Stated the Supreme Court had the power to declare a law unconstitutional (judicial review)

Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)

1819

Upheld the sanctity of contracts

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

1819

Ruled that states cannot tax the federal government

Johnson v. McIntosh (1823)

1823

Clarified rights of Indians to tribal lands and stated that only the federal government could take land away

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

1824

Declared the power of Congress over interstate commerce

Taney Court

1836 - 1864

Dred Scott v. Sanford

1857

Ruled that slaves were not citizens and therefore had no case

Civil Rights Cases of 1883

1883

Ruled segregation legal

Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Railway Co. v. Illinois (1886)

1886

Declared Granger Laws unconstitutional

U. S. v. E. C. Knight Co. (1895)

1895

Ruled that the government could not act against monopolies

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

1896

"Separate but equal"

"Insular Cases" (1901

1901

Established the right of the government to place tarrifs

Schenck v. U. S. (1919)

1919

Free speech can be limited when a "clear and present danger" exists

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)

1931

Established a trust relationship between the government and Indian tribes

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

1932

Established "territorial boundaries" within which Indians had free rule

Korematsu v. U. S. (1941)

1941

Declared the removal of Japanese citizens duing WWII constitutional

Warren Court (1953 - 1969)

1953 - 1969

Chief Justice Earl Warren
Ended racial segregation
Ended prayer in schools

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954)

1954

Declared separate but equal unconstitutional

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

1963

Established that legal defense for the accused must be provided

Escobedo v. Illinois (1964)

1964

Defendant must be given a lawyer before being questioned by police

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

1966

An accused person must be aware of their rights

Roe v. Wade (1973)

1973

Legalized abortion

U. S. v. Richard Nixon (1974)

1974

Nixon's involvement in Watergate and refusal to turn over secret tapes to the Court