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| (1803): Established principle of judicial review (the Court's power to rule an act of Congress unconstitutional). The Court did not again invoke this power until the Dred Scott decision in 1857. |
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| (1819): Established that the federal government's power must be considered supreme within its sphere and that states do not have the power to interfere with the exercise of federal powers. |
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| (1824): Interpreted Congress's right to regulate interstate commerce to include all forms of business, not just the exchange of goods. |
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| (1857): Effectively nullified the Missouri Compromise and declared slaves to be property, not citizens. |
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| (1873): Drew a distinction between state and federal citizenship and ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment does not guard against all instances of state discrimination. In its ruling, the Court considered the amendment's original purpose: to protect citizenship rights of freed slaves. |
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| (1877): Allowed states to regulate private businesses when "public interests"are involved; has since been modified. |
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| (1896): Ruled that segregation is legal as long as accommodations were "separate but equal." |
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| Cumming v. County Board of Ed. |
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Definition
| (1899): Ruled that laws establishing separate schools for whites are constitutional even if there are no comparable schools for blacks. |
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Term
| Northern Securities Co. v. U.S |
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Definition
| (1904):The first case in which the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) was successfully invoked to break up a business monopoly. |
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| (1908): Authorized states to pass laws setting maximum working hours. |
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| Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. U.S. |
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Definition
| (1911): Authorized the federal government to break up trusts for "unreasonable restraint of trade." |
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Definition
| (1919): Set the "clear and present danger" standard for restricting free speech, especially applicable during wartime; upheld the Espionage Act (1917) |
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| (1935): Declared the National Recovery Administration (part of FDR's New Deal) unconstitutional on the basis that the NRA gave the executive branch regulatory powers that belonged exclusively to Congress. |
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| (1951): Upheld the Smith Act (1940), which made it a crime to advocate overthrowing the government. |
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| Brown v. Board of Education |
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Definition
| (1951): Declared segregation in schools unconstitutional, overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson. |
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| (1957): Defined obscene publications as those that attract "prurient interests" and lack any "redeeming social importance." |
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| (1961): Extended the federal exclusionary rule to states; this rule prohibited illegally obtained evidence from being presented in courts. |
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| (Ruled school prayer unconstitutional on the basis that it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. |
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| (1962): Granted federal courts jurisdiction over state apportionment systems to assure that all citizens' votes are granted equal weight. |
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| (1963): Required states to provide public defenders for indigent defendants in felony cases. |
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| (1966): Required police to make suspects aware of their rights to remain silent and to have an attorney present during questioning--the so-called Miranda rights. |
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| (1967): Declared laws against interracial marriage unconstitutional |
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Term
| New York Time Co. v. U.S. |
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Definition
| (1971): Overturned the Justice Department's order to restrict free press in the interests of national security (the Justice Department aimed to black publication of the so-called Pentagon Papers). The ruling firmly protected freedom of the press. |
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| (1973): Ruled unconstitutional all laws outlawing abortion (except in the third trimester) on the basis that these laws violate the Fourteenth Amendment's implied right for women to make private decisions about their bodies and reproductive capacities. |
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Term
| Regents of the University of California v. Bakke |
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Definition
| (1978): Allowed universities to admit students on the basis of race in order to counter discrimination (affirmative action). |
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| (1986): Authorized states to regulate sexual interaction conducting in private between consenting adults. |
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Term
| Webster v. Reproductive Health Services |
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Definition
| (1989): Allowed states to restrict access to abortion services significantly. |
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