1.1. On his last day in office, President John Adams named 42 justices of the peace in the District of Columbia. The Senate confirmed the nominees. The commissions were signed by President Adams and sealed by acting Secretary of State John Marshall, but they were not delivered before the expiration of Adams’s term as president. Thomas Jefferson stopped delivery of the remaining commissions. William Marbury, one of those who did not receive his commission, filed suit in the Supreme Court, under a provision of the Judiciary Act of 1789.
1.2. Chief Justice John Marshall announced the ruling that Marbury’s rights had been violated and that he should have his commission. Jefferson won a victory. Yes. Marbury has a right to the commission.
2. Fletcher v. Peck
2.1. Fletcher purchased 15,000 acres from Peck in 1803 for $3,000. Peck had placed a covenant in the deed that stated that the title to the land had not been constitutionally impaired by any subsequent act of the state of Georgia. Fletcher sued Peck to establish the constitutionality of the 1796 act; either the act was constitutional and the contract was void, or the act was unconstitutional and Fletcher had clear title to the land.
2.2. Judgment for Peck. The 1796 statute was unconstitutional and the sale to Fletcher conveyed clear title. It was the first case in which the Supreme Court ruled a state law unconstitutional.
3. Dartmouth College v. Woodward
3.1. In 1769 King George III of Great Britain granted a charter to Dartmouth College. This document spelled out the purpose of the school, set up the structure to govern it, and gave land to the college. In 1816, the legislature of New Hampshire attempted to alter Dartmouth's charter, and this effectively converted the school from a private to a public institution. The trustees of the College objected and sought to have the actions of the legislature declared unconstitutional. The trustees retained Dartmouth alumnus Daniel Webster. He argued the college's case against William H.Woodward, the state-approved secretary of the new board of trustees.
3.2. Webster's speech in support of Dartmouth was so moving that it apparently helped convince Chief Justice John Marshall, also reportedly bringing tears to Webster's eyes. The Court applied the protection of contracts to corporate charters. It ruled in favor of the College and invalidated the act of the New Hampshire Legislature
4. McCulloch v.Maryland
4.1. Maryland had attempted to tax the Bank of the United States. McCulloch, the cashier of the Baltimore branch of the Bank of the United States, issued bank notes without complying with the Maryland law. Maryland sued McCulloch for failing to pay the taxes due under the Maryland statute and McCulloch contested the constitutionality of that act.
4.2. The state court found for Maryland and McCulloch appealed. The Court declared that states could not hamper the exercise of legitimate national interests.
5. Gibbons v. Ogden
5.1. Livingston assigned to Ogden the right to navigate the waters between New York City and certain ports in New Jersey. Ogden brought this lawsuit seeking an injunction to restrain Gibbons from operating steam ships on New York waters in violation of his exclusive privilege. Gibbons asserted that the Act of Congress superseded the exclusive privilege granted by the state of New York.
5.2. The Court broadened the meaning of interstate commerce, further extending federal authority at the expense of the states.
6. Dred Scott v.Sandford
6.1. An aging Taney read an opinion that declared African Americans were not and could not be citizens, the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, and Congress was powerless to stop the spread of slavery. The national furor over the Scott case damaged the Court. It also made an objective evaluation of the Taney era nearly impossible
6.2. The Court denied Scott's request. It was the second time the Supreme Court ruled an Act of Congress to be unconstitutional. The decision now widely regarded by scholars as the worst decision ever made by the Supreme Court.
7. Plessy v. Ferguson
7.1. The Court said that this law that required railroads operating within the state to provide separate cars for white and African American passengers, was a reasonable exercise of state police power to preserve peace and order. “Legislation is powerless to eradicate racial instincts or to abolish distinctions,” it concluded. The lone dissenter, Justice Harlan, said this decision was “inconsistent with the personal liberty of citizens, white and black.”
7.2. Judgment for Ferguson (Plessy loses). This case established the “separate but equal”doctrine.
8. Brown v. Board Education
8.1. Several black children sought admission to public schools that required or permitted segregation based on race. On appeal to the Supreme Court, the plaintiffs contended that segregated schools weren't and couldn't be made equal and that they were therefore deprived of equal protection of the laws.
8.2. The Judgment was for the plaintiffs. This decision overturned the separate but equal doctrine established by the Plessy decision.
9. United States v.E.C knight Co
9.1. The U.S Congress enacted the Sherman Antitrust Act. One of its two main provisions outlawed any attempts to monopolize trade within the U.S. When the American Sugar Refining Company acquired almost all of the sugar-producing capacity in the U.S., the government sought to divest it of its monopoly. In 1892, the American Sugar Refining Company gained control of the E. C. Knight Company. President Cleveland directed the national government to sue the Knight Company under the provisions of the Sherman Antitrust Act to prevent the acquisition.
9.2. Limited the government's power to control monopolies.
10. Debs v. United States
10.1. Debs gave a number of public speeches in Canton, Ohio opposing the war. The theme of his speeches was the benefits of a Socialist society. He found guilty for attempting to incite insubordination in the military by giving a speech. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years on each count.
10.2. It was one of three cases decided in 1919 in which the Court had upheld convictions that restricted free speech.
11. Schechter poultry corp. v. United States
11.1. The relevant portion of the NIRA regulated the price of chickens as well as the eventual sale of “unhealthy” chickens. Under this regulation, Plaintiff was accused of selling unhealthy chickens. Plaintiff was with charged with 18 separate counts of violating the act. the court held that Congress had exceeded its authority by delegating too much legislative power to the president and industrial groups.
11.2. The first case of many that followed in which the Supreme Court overturned bits and pieces of the New Deal. It is one of the first examples of a Supreme Court that worked actively against a Presidential policy passed by Congress.
12. Lochner v. New York
12.1. Lochner permitted an employee to work in his bakery for more than sixty hours in one week and was convicted of his second offense and fined. Lochner appealed his conviction on the grounds that the New York state labor law violated his freedom to contract under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
12.2. Under this case circumstances, the freedom of master and employee to contract with each other in relation to their employment cannot be prohibited or interfered with without violating the Constitution.
13. Schenck v United States
13.1. The distribution of leaflets using impassioned language claiming that the draft was a violation of the 13th Amendment of the U.S Constitution and encouraging people to “assert your opposition to the draft” was held not to be protected speech. This case is based on a 3 count indictment. The first charge was a conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act of 1917. The second was a conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S. The third count alleges an unlawful use of the mails for the transmission of unlawful matter.The Defendants, Schenck and other publishers of the leaflets were found guilty.
13.2. It held that the defendant did not have the right to speak out against the draft during the first World War. It also established the clear and present danger test.
14. Roe v. Wade
14.1. Roe, a pregnant single woman, challenged the constitutionality of the Texas abortion laws. The Does, was a married couple, who sought an injunction against enforcement of the laws on the grounds that they were unconstitutional. The defendant was county District Attorney Wade. Roe won the lawsuits at trial.
14.2. The district court held that the Texas abortion statutes were void as vague and for over broadly infringing the 9th and 14th Amendment rights of the plaintiffs. The Supreme Court's decision established that most laws against abortion violate a constitutional right to privacy. It ruled that the states don't have jurisdiction over the bodily functions of a US citizen.
