Historical

In Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972), a divided U.S. Supreme Court held that the death penalty could violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual pu...

In West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943), the U.S. Supreme Court held that requiring public school children to salute the American flag and recite the ple...

In Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783 (1983), the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. By a vote of 6-3, the majority in Marsh v. Chamber...

In Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940), the U.S. Supreme Court first applied the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause to the states. A unanimous Court specifically ...

In United States v. Carolene Products Company, 304 U.S. 144 (1938), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the validity of an economic regulation passed by Congress pursuant to the Commer...

In Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of counsel applies to the states via the Due Process Clause of th...

Nearly 50 years later, the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Miranda vs Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), remains one of the Court’s most influential Fifth Amendment ruli...

In Johnson v. M’Intosh, 21 U.S. 543 (1823), the U.S. Supreme Court addressed whether Native Americans had the power to give, and of private individuals to receive, title to lan...

In Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 17 U.S. 518 (1819), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the U.S. Constitution’s Contracts Clause prohibited state legislatures from interfering w...

In Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee, 14 U.S. 304 (1816), the U.S. Supreme Court first asserted its authority to overrule a state court decision regarding an issue of federal law. T...