Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Cases

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Marbury v Madison

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A landmark case that established the principle of judicial review in the United States, meaning that American courts have the power to strike down laws, statutes, and some government actions that they find to violate the Constitution of the United States.

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Dred Scott

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A controversial Supreme Court decision that held that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, could not be American citizens and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court. The decision also declared the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in the territories acquired after the creation of the United States.

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Worcester v Georgia

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A case in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that the states did not have the right to impose regulations on Native American land. The decision was largely ignored by President Andrew Jackson and the state of Georgia.

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McCulloch v Maryland

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A Supreme Court case that established two important principles in constitutional law: the Constitution grants to Congress implied powers for implementing the Constitution's express powers, in order to create a functional national government, and state action may not impede valid constitutional exercises of power by the federal government.

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Gibbons v Ogden

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A landmark decision in which the Supreme Court held that the power to regulate interstate commerce was granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.

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Plessy v Ferguson

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A Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. The case stemmed from an 1892 incident in which African American train passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a car for Black people.

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Brown v Board of Education

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A landmark Supreme Court case in which the justices ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional. The decision effectively overturned the 'separate but equal' doctrine established by the Plessy v. Ferguson decision.

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Miranda v Arizona

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A Supreme Court case that established the principle that all criminal suspects must be advised of their rights before interrogation. This led to the creation of the 'Miranda rights'.

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Gideon v Wainwright

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A landmark case in United States Supreme Court history. In it, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that states are required under the Sixth Amendment to provide an attorney to defendants in criminal cases who are unable to afford their own attorneys.

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Mapp v Ohio

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A landmark case in criminal procedure, in which the United States Supreme Court decided that evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against 'unreasonable searches and seizures,' may not be used in state law criminal prosecutions in state courts.