Court Cases

1. Marbury vs Madison

1.1. The landmark decision helped define the boundary between the constitutionally separate executive and judicial branches of the American form of government.

2. Fletcher vs Peck

2.1. The first case in which a state law was ruled unconstitutional. It was a big arguement over who got to control land already inhabited by Native Americans.

3. Dartmouth College vs. Woodward

3.1. The case arose when the president of Dartmouth College was deposed by its trustees, leading to the New Hampshire legislature attempting to force the college to become a public institution and thereby place the ability to appoint trustees in the hands of the governor. The Supreme Court upheld the sanctity of the original charter of the college, which pre-dated the creation of the State.

4. McCulloch vs Maryland

4.1. The state of Maryland had attempted to impede operation of a branch of the Second Bank of the United States by imposing a tax on all notes of banks not chartered in Maryland.

5. Gibbons vs Ogden

5.1. Gibbons v. Ogden was a landmark decision in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the power to regulate interstate commerce was granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.m

6. Dred Scott v. Sandford

6.1. Ruled that African Americans were not citizens of the United States, even if they were not slaves.

6.2. Slavery could not be regulated in U.S. territories.

7. Brown vs Board of Education

7.1. Brown v. Board of Education, was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation, insofar as it applied to public education.

8. United States v.E.C. Knight and Co.

8.1. Also known the Sugar Trust Case where the Supreme Court would restrict government's control over monopolies.

9. Debs v. United States

10. Roe vs Wade

10.1. A case pertaining to abortion that was considered a companion case with Bolton v. Doe. That was ruled under the right of the due process of law, where a woman's decision to have abortion, but must abide to state interests.

10.2. Roe v. Wade, is a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion.

11. Schechter Poultry Corporation v. United States