Supreme Court Cases
Landmark decisions and their impact on American law and society
Showing 32 of 32 cases
Slaughter-House Cases
The Court narrowly interpreted the 14th Amendment’s Privileges or Immunities Clause, ruling it protected only rights of national citizenship, not the broad range of civil rights claimed by Louisiana butchers.
This decision severely limited the 14th Amendment’s power to protect citizens from state government abuses, effectively leaving civil rights enforcement to the states for decades.
Civil Rights Cases
The Court struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875, ruling that the 14th Amendment only prohibited state-sponsored discrimination, not private acts of discrimination by individuals or businesses.
This ruling ended federal protection against private racial discrimination for nearly a century, opening the door to Jim Crow laws and segregation enforced by private businesses.
Plessy v. Ferguson
The Court upheld Louisiana’s Separate Car Act, establishing the “separate but equal” doctrine that legalized racial segregation in public facilities as long as accommodations were theoretically equal.
Plessy entrenched legal segregation across the South for 58 years, providing constitutional cover for Jim Crow laws that denied Black Americans equal access to schools, transportation, and public life.
United States v. E.C. Knight
The Court ruled that the Sherman Antitrust Act could not be applied to manufacturing monopolies, distinguishing “manufacturing” from “commerce” and sharply limiting Congress’s ability to regulate industry.
By narrowing the definition of interstate commerce, the decision weakened antitrust enforcement and allowed large industrial monopolies to consolidate power throughout the Gilded Age.
Lochner v. New York
The Court struck down a New York law limiting bakery workers to 60 hours per week, finding it violated a “liberty of contract” implied by the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
The decision launched the “Lochner Era” in which the Court regularly invalidated progressive labor regulations as violations of freedom of contract, blocking worker protections for three decades.
Muller v. Oregon
The Court unanimously upheld an Oregon law limiting women laundry workers to 10 hours per day, accepting social science evidence presented in the famous “Brandeis Brief.”
The decision established that protective labor laws for women were constitutional and pioneered the use of sociological and economic data in legal arguments, transforming how courts evaluate legislation.
Standard Oil Co. v. United States
The Court ordered the breakup of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company into 34 independent firms, finding it had unreasonably restrained trade in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.
The ruling demonstrated that antitrust law had real teeth and led to major corporate breakups, though it also introduced the “rule of reason” standard that weakened blanket antitrust enforcement.
Hammer v. Dagenhart
The Court struck down the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act, ruling that Congress had exceeded its Commerce Clause power by prohibiting the interstate shipment of goods made by child labor.
The decision blocked federal efforts to end child labor for two decades, leaving millions of children working in mines, mills, and factories with minimal protection until the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
Schenck v. United States
The Court unanimously upheld the conviction of a Socialist Party official who distributed anti-draft leaflets during World War I, establishing the “clear and present danger” test for limiting free speech.
The ruling set the precedent that free speech could be restricted when words create a clear and present danger, profoundly shaping First Amendment jurisprudence throughout the 20th century.
Gitlow v. New York
The Court upheld Benjamin Gitlow’s conviction under a New York criminal anarchy law but for the first time held that the First Amendment applied to the states through the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
Gitlow began the “incorporation doctrine,” the process by which Bill of Rights protections are applied to state governments, fundamentally expanding individual liberties against state action.
Schechter Poultry v. United States
The Court unanimously struck down the National Industrial Recovery Act, ruling that Congress had unconstitutionally delegated legislative power to the executive branch and had exceeded its Commerce Clause authority.
Known as the “sick chicken case,” this decision dealt a major blow to FDR’s New Deal, invalidating the centerpiece of his industrial recovery program and triggering the court-packing crisis.
NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel
The Court upheld the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act), ruling that Congress could regulate labor relations at a steel company under the Commerce Clause because labor strife would burden interstate commerce.
The decision marked the end of the Lochner Era and signaled the Court’s acceptance of New Deal economic regulation, fundamentally expanding the federal government’s power over the national economy.
West Coast Hotel v. Parrish
The Court upheld Washington State’s minimum wage law for women, overruling Adkins v. Children’s Hospital and effectively ending the Lochner Era of judicial protection for freedom of contract.
The ruling removed the major constitutional obstacle to minimum wage and labor legislation, enabling state and federal governments to set wage floors and regulate working conditions.
Korematsu v. United States
The Court upheld the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, ruling that the military necessity of preventing espionage justified the exclusion order.
While later condemned as one of the Court’s worst decisions, Korematsu introduced the “strict scrutiny” standard for racial classifications that would later be used to strike down segregation.
Brown v. Board of Education
The Court unanimously overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, ruling that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Brown dismantled the legal foundation of Jim Crow segregation, launched the modern Civil Rights Movement, and stands as the most transformative Supreme Court decision of the 20th century.
Hernandez v. Texas
The Court unanimously held that Mexican Americans were entitled to equal protection under the 14th Amendment, striking down systematic exclusion of Mexican Americans from jury service in Texas.
The ruling extended 14th Amendment equal protection beyond the Black-white binary, establishing that the Constitution protects all ethnic and national-origin groups from discrimination.
Mapp v. Ohio
The Court held that evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures cannot be used in state criminal courts, applying the exclusionary rule to the states.
Mapp revolutionized criminal procedure across the country by forcing police to obtain warrants and follow constitutional search procedures, or risk having evidence thrown out of court.
Engel v. Vitale
The Court ruled that a New York school district’s practice of beginning each school day with an official prayer violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
The decision effectively banned all school-sponsored prayer from public schools, one of the most controversial rulings in Court history that continues to generate debate about the separation of church and state.
Gideon v. Wainwright
The Court unanimously ruled that the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel must be provided to all criminal defendants who cannot afford an attorney, incorporating this right against the states.
Gideon established the right to a public defender for all indigent defendants, fundamentally transforming the American criminal justice system by ensuring legal representation regardless of wealth.
Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States
The Court unanimously upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ruling that Congress could use the Commerce Clause to prohibit racial discrimination in hotels, motels, and other businesses serving interstate travelers.
The ruling gave constitutional grounding to the Civil Rights Act and established that the Commerce Clause gave Congress broad authority to combat racial discrimination in public accommodations nationwide.
Reynolds v. Sims
The Court ruled that both chambers of state legislatures must be apportioned on a population basis under the Equal Protection Clause, establishing the “one person, one vote” principle.
The decision triggered the most significant redrawing of legislative district lines in American history, shifting political power from rural areas to cities and suburbs and transforming state politics.
Miranda v. Arizona
The Court held that suspects in police custody must be informed of their Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights before interrogation, including the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney.
Miranda warnings became a cornerstone of American criminal procedure, known to virtually every citizen and required in every police interrogation, fundamentally shaping law enforcement practice.
Loving v. Virginia
The Court unanimously struck down Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act and all state laws prohibiting interracial marriage, ruling they violated both the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the 14th Amendment.
Loving ended state-sponsored bans on interracial marriage across 16 states and established marriage as a fundamental right, a principle later cited in Obergefell v. Hodges to extend marriage equality to same-sex couples.
Tinker v. Des Moines
The Court ruled that students do not “shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate,” holding that students wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War was protected symbolic speech.
Tinker established that public school students retain First Amendment rights and that schools can only restrict speech that substantially disrupts educational activities, protecting student political expression.
New York Times v. United States
The Court ruled 6-3 that the Nixon administration could not use prior restraint to prevent the New York Times and Washington Post from publishing the Pentagon Papers, a classified history of the Vietnam War.
The decision reinforced the First Amendment’s protection against government censorship of the press, affirming that prior restraint carries a very heavy presumption against its constitutional validity.
Roe v. Wade
The Court held that the Constitution protects a woman’s right to abortion under a right to privacy derived from the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause, subject to state regulation increasing with fetal viability.
Roe legalized abortion nationwide and became one of the most politically divisive decisions in American history, dominating judicial confirmation battles until it was overturned by Dobbs v. Jackson (2022).
United States v. Nixon
The Court unanimously ruled that President Nixon had to comply with a subpoena for White House tape recordings, holding that executive privilege is not absolute and does not extend to shielding evidence of criminal activity.
The decision established that no person, including the president, is above the law, and directly led to Nixon’s resignation — the only resignation of a U.S. president in history.
Regents of UC v. Bakke
The Court struck down UC Davis Medical School’s specific racial quota system for admissions while allowing race to be considered as one factor among many in a holistic admissions process.
Bakke ended rigid racial quotas in university admissions while permitting affirmative action policies designed to achieve educational diversity, setting the framework for affirmative action law for decades.
Bush v. Gore
The Court halted the manual recount of Florida ballots in the 2000 presidential election, ruling the recount process violated the Equal Protection Clause, effectively deciding the presidency in favor of George W. Bush.
The decision determined the outcome of the 2000 presidential election and remains deeply controversial, raising fundamental questions about judicial involvement in elections and the rule of law.
Citizens United v. FEC
The Court ruled that the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting independent political expenditures by corporations, associations, and labor unions, treating corporate political spending as protected speech.
The decision unleashed unlimited corporate and union spending on political campaigns, transforming American electoral politics and enabling the rise of Super PACs that spend billions in elections.
Shelby County v. Holder
The Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which contained the formula used to determine which states must receive federal preclearance before changing voting laws.
The decision effectively gutted the preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act, leading to a wave of new voting restrictions in states previously covered by the law and sparking national debate over voter suppression.
Obergefell v. Hodges
The Court held that the 14th Amendment requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages, establishing marriage equality as a constitutional right nationwide.
Obergefell extended the fundamental right to marry to same-sex couples across all 50 states, marking the culmination of decades of LGBTQ civil rights litigation and representing a major expansion of constitutional equality.