Term
| Marbury v. Madison (1803, Marshall) |
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Definition
| The court established its role as the arbiter of the constitutionality of federal laws, the principle is known as judicial review |
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Term
| Fletcher v. Peck (1810, Marshall) |
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Definition
| The decision stems from the Yazoo land cases, 1803, and upholds the sanctity of contracts. |
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Term
| McCulloch v. Maryland (1819, Marshall) |
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Definition
| The Court ruled that states cannot tax the federal government, i.e. the Bank of the United States; the phrase "the power to tax is the power to destroy"; confirmed the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States. |
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Term
| Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819, Marshall) |
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Definition
| New Hampshire had attempted to take over Dartmouth College by revising its colonial charter. The Court ruled that the charter was protected under the contract clause of the U. S. Constitution; upholds the sanctity of contracts. |
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Term
| Gibbons v. Ogden (1824, Marshall) |
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Definition
| Clarified the commerce clause and affirmed Congressional power over interstate commerce. |
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Term
| Johnson v. McIntosh (1823, Marshall) |
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Definition
| Established that Indian tribes had rights to tribal lands that preceded all other American law; only the federal government could take land from the tribes. |
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Term
| Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831, Marshall) |
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Definition
| "The conditions of the Indians in relation to the United States is perhaps unlike that of any two people in existence," Chief Justice John Marshall wrote, "their relation to the United States resembles that of a ward to his guardian. . .(they were a) domestic dependent nation." Established a "trust relationship" with the tribes directly under federal authority. |
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Term
| Worcester v. Georgia (1832, Marshall) |
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Definition
| Established tribal autonomy within their boundaries, i.e. the tribes were "distinct political communities, having territorial boundaries within which their authority is exclusive." |
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Term
| Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842) |
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Definition
| Declared that labor unions were lawful organizations and that the strike was a lawful weapon. |
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Term
| Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857, Taney) |
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Definition
| Speaking for a widely divided court, Chief Justice Taney ruled that Dred Scott was not a citizen and had no standing in court; Scott’s residence in a free state and territory had not made him free since he returned to Missouri; Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in a territory (based on the 5th Amendment right of a person to be secure from seizure of property), thus voiding the Missouri Compromise of 1820. |
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Term
| U. S. v. E. C. Knight Co. (1895) |
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Definition
| Due to a narrow interpretation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the Court undermined the authority of the federal government to act against monopolies. |
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Term
| Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) |
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Definition
| Legalized segregation in publicly owned facilities on the basis of "separate but equal." |
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Term
| Lochner v. New York (1905) |
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Definition
| Declared unconstitutional a New York act limiting the working hours of bakers due to a denial of the 14th Amendment rights. |
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Term
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Definition
| First case to use the "Brandeis brief"; recognized a 10-hour work day for women laundry workers on the grounds of health and community concerns. |
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Term
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Definition
| Unanimously upheld the Espionage Act of 1917 which declared that people who interfered with the war effort were subject to imprisonment; declared that the 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech was not absolute; free speech could be limited if its exercise presented a "clear and present danger." |
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Term
| Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923) |
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Definition
| Declared unconstitutional a minimum wage law for women on the grounds that it denied women freedom of contract. |
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Term
| Korematsu v. U. S. (1941) |
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Definition
| The court upheld the constitutionality of detention camps for Japanese-Americans during World War 2. |
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Term
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Definition
| The court forbade the internment of Japanese-Americans born in the U. S. (Nisei) |
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Term
| Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954, Warren) |
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Definition
| Unanimous decision declaring "separate but equal" unconstitutional. |
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Term
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Definition
| The court legalized abortion by ruling that state laws could not restrict it during the first three months of pregnancy. Based on 4th Amendment rights of a person to be secure in their persons. |
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