Landmark Cases

Marbury v. Madison

1803

1. Do the plaintiffs have a right to receive their commissions?
2. Can they sue for their commissions in court?
3. Does the Supreme Court have the authority to order the delivery of their commissions? The court found this illegal since "Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 conflicted with Article III Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution and was therefore null and void."

McCulloch v. Maryland

1819

1. Did Congress have the authority to establish the bank?
2. Did the Maryland law unconstitutionally interfere with congressional powers? The court ruled unconstitutional and Maryland is not allowed to impose a tax on the bank.

Plessy v. Ferguson

1896

"Does the Separate Car Act violate the Fourteenth Amendment?"
The court ruled this constitutional because segregation was not considered unlawful discrimination and did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment.

Korematsu v. United States

1944

"Did the President and Congress go beyond their war powers by implementing exclusion and restricting the rights of Americans of Japanese descent?"
The court ruled this constitutional as the Executive Order was not considered racial prejudice but was considered a way to keep the U.S. secure from invasions.

Mapp v. Ohio

1961

"Were the confiscated materials protected from seizure by the Fourth Amendment?"
The court ruled it unconstitutional and all evidence obtained by search and seizure violates the Fourth Amendment and can't be accepted in court.

Brandenburg v. Ohio

1969

"Did Ohio's criminal syndicalism law, prohibiting public speech that advocates various illegal activities, violate Brandenburg's right to free speech as protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments?"
The court ruled that Ohio violated Brandenburg's First Amendment right to freedom of speech. The First Amendment can be taken away for two reasons, and Brandenburg violated neither of them.

New York Times Co. v. United States

1971

"Did the Nixon administration's efforts to prevent the publication of what it termed "classified information" violate the First Amendment?"
The court ruled that the Nixon administration's efforts did violate the First Amendment because "the government did not overcome the "heavy presumption against" prior restraint of the press in this case."

United States v. Nixon

1974

"Is the President's right to safeguard certain information, using his "executive privilege" confidentiality power, entirely immune from judicial review?"
The court ruled this unconstitutional and the President does not have the authority to keep information.

Bush v. Gore

2000

"Did the Florida Supreme Court violate Article II Section 1 Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution by making new election law? Do standardless manual recounts violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Constitution?"
The court ruled that it was unconstitutional as Standardless manual recounts violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

Lawrence v. Texas

2003

Is Texas allowed to criminalize sexual intimacy between same-sex couples or does this violate their Fourteenth Amendment?
The Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to criminalize the actions between same-sex couples as it violates their Fourteenth Amendment.