Essential Supreme Court Decisions

John R. Vile is professor of political science at Middle Tennessee State University. He is the author or editor of numerous books on political science and constitutional law, including Encyclopedia of the First Amendment, The Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, and A Companion to the U.S. Constitution and Its Amendments.

• Preface to the Eighteenth Edition AcknowledgmentsThis Is Our Supreme Court1 Article I: The Legislative BranchPowersCommerceGibbons v. Ogden (1824)Brown v. Maryland (1827)Cooley v. the Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia (1851)United States v. E. C. Knight Co. (1895)In re Debs (1895)Champion v. Ames (1903)The Shreveport Case (1914)Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918)Stafford v. Wallace (1922)Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority (1936)West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish (1937)[United States v. Carolene Products Company (1938)]* [United States v. F. W. Darby Lumber Co. (1941)] Wickard v. Filburn (1942)United States v. Southeastern Underwriters Association (1944)Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States (1964)United States v. Lopez (1995)Jones v. United States (2000)[United States v. Morrison (2000)] Gonzales v. Raich (2005)[National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebilius (2012)]Taylor v. United States (2016)Delegation of PowersJ. W. Hampton, Jr. & Co. v. United States (1928) Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan (1935)Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935) United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. (1936)Mistretta v. United States (1989)Implied PowersMcCulloch v. Maryland (1819) McGrain v. Daugherty (1927) Watkins v. United States (1957) Barenblatt v. United States (1959) Taxing/Spending and Regulatory PowersHylton v. United States (1796)Collector v. Day (1871) Legal Tender Cases (1871)Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan and Trust Co. (1895)McCray v. United States (1904) Swift and Co. v. United States (1905) Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States (1910)Bailey v. Drexel Furniture Co. (1922)United States v. Butler (1936)Steward Machine Co. v. Davis (1937)National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation (1937)Graves v. New York ex rel. O’Keefe (1939)Mulford v. Smith (1939) South Dakota v. Dole (1987) National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012) National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning (2014)King v. Burwell (2015)Michigan v. EPA (2015)Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2020)Privileges and Terms of MembersPowell v. McCormack (1969)Gravel v. United States (1972)U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton (1995)2Article II: The Executive BranchPowersMartin v. Mott (1827)Ex parte Merryman (1861)Mississippi v. Johnson (1867)In re Neagle (1890)Myers v. United States (1926)Ex parte Grossman (1925)Rathbun, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States (1935)Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952)Dames and Moore v. Regan (1981)Haig v. Agee (1981)Trump v. Hawaii (2018)Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California (2020)Privileges and LimitationsUnited States v. Nixon (1974)Nixon v. Fitzgerald (1982)Clinton v. Jones (1997)Trump v. Vance (2020)3 Articles I and II: Distinct Yet Overlapping PowersSeparation of Powers IssuesUnited States v. Lovett (1946)Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha (1983)Bowsher v. Snyar (1986)Morrison v. Olson (1988)Clinton v. City of New York (1998)Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (2010)Treaties and Executive AgreementsMissouri v. Holland (1920)United States v. Belmont (1937)Goldwater v. Carter (1979)Zivotofsky v. Kerry (2015)War-Making PowersThe Prize Cases (1863)Ex parte Milligan (1866)Selective Draft Law Cases (1918)Hamilton v. Kentucky Distilleries & Warehouse Co. (1919)Ex parte Quirin (1942)Korematsu v. United States (1944)Woods v. Cloyd W. Miller Co. (1948)Johnson v. Eisentrager (1950)[Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952)]Rostker v. Goldberg (1981)Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004)Rasul v. Bush (2004)Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006)Boudmediene v. Bush (2008)4 Article III: The Judicial BranchJudicial Jurisdiction and StandingMarbury v. Madison (1803)Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee (1816)Cohens v. Virginia (1821)Eakin v. Raub (1825)Ableman v. Booth (1859)Ex parte McCardle (1869)Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Mellon (Frothingham v. Mellon) (1923)Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins (1938)Cooper v. Aaron (1958)Flast v. Cohen (1968)Stone v. Powell (1976)Elk Grove v. Newdow (2004)Uzuegbunun v. Preczewski (2021)Political Questions DoctrineLuther v. Borden (1849)Muskrat v. United States (1911) [Coleman v. Miller (1939)]Baker v. Carr (1962)[Powell v. McCormack (1969)]Nixon v. United States (1993)Rucho v. Common Cause (2019)5 Articles IV and VI: FederalismEleventh Amendment and Sovereign Immunity of StatesHans v. Louisiana (1890)Monaco v. Mississippi (1934)Alden v. Maine (1999)Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents (2000)University of Alabama Board of Trustees v. Garrett (2001)Lapides v. Board of Regents of University of Georgia (2002)Federal Maritime Commission v. South Carolina State Ports Authority (2002)Penneast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey (2021) Federal PreemptionSouthern Pacific Co. v. Arizona (1945)Pennsylvania v. Nelson (1956)Sprietsman v. Mercury Marine (2002)Judicial Jurisdiction over StatesChisholm v. Georgia (1793) [Cohens v. Virginia (1821)]Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)Worcester v. Georgia (1832)Puerto Rico v. Branstad (1987)Limits on the States[McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)]Leisy v. Hardin (1890)Edwards v. California (1941)Camps Newfound/Owatonna v. Town of Harrison (1997)Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council (2000)Cook v. Gralike (2001)Smith v. Doe (2003) [Gonzales v. Raich (2005)]Limits on Federal Regulation of StatesNew York v. United States (1992) [United States v. Lopez (1995)]Printz v. United States, Mack v. United States (1997)United States v. Morrison (2000)Status of the StatesTexas v. White (1869)[Slaughterhouse Cases (1873)] Coyle v. Smith (1911)Tenth Amendment and State Police PowersUnited States v. F. W. Darby Lumber Co. (1941)National League of Cities v. Usery (1976)Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wyoming (1983)Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority (1985)Arizona v. United States (2012)6 Articles V and VII: Constitutional Amending Process and Ratification of the ConstitutionThe Amending ProcessHollingsworth v. Virginia (1798)National Prohibition Cases (1920)Hawke v. Smith (1920)Dillon v. Gloss (1921)Coleman v. Miller (1939)7 Property RightsContract Clause (Article 1, Section 10)Calder v. Bull (1798)Fletcher v. Peck (1810)Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)Charles River Bridge Co. v. Warren River Bridge (1837)Stone v. Mississippi (1880)Home Building and Loan Association v. Blaisdell (1934)United States Trust Co. v. New Jersey (1977)Due Process (Economic) and Freedom of Contract (Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments)Slaughterhouse Cases (1873)Munn v. Illinois (1877)Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company (1886)Holden v. Hardy (1898)Lochner v. New York (1905)Muller v. Oregon (1908)Bunting v. Oregon (1917)Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923)Nebbia v. New York (1934)[West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish (1937)]Lincoln Federal Labor Union No. 19129, et al., v. Northwestern Iron and Metal Co., et al. (1949)BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore (1996)State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Company v. Campbell (2003)Takings Clause (Fifth Amendment)Village of Euclid, Ohio, v. Ambler Realty Co. (1926)Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff (1984)Dolan v. City of Tigard (1994)Kelo v. City of New London (2005)Horne v. Department of Agriculture (2015) Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid (2021)8 The Bill of Rights and Its Application to the StatesIncorporationBarron v. Baltimore (1833)Gitlow v. New York (1925)Palko v. Connecticut (1937)United States v. Carolene Products Co. (1938)Adamson v. California (1947)Rochin v. California (1952)[Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)] [Duncan v. Louisiana (1968)] [McDonald v. Chicago (2010)][Ramos v. Louisiana (2020)]9 First Amendment: Religious RightsEstablishment ClauseSchool-Related CasesEverson v. Board of Education of Ewing Township (1947)Zorach v. Clauson (1952)Engel et al. v. Vitale et al. (1962)Abington School District v. Schempp (1963)Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)Stone v. Graham (1980)Widmar v. Vincent (1981)Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)Edwards v. Aguillard (1987)Lee v. Weisman (1992)Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District (1993)Agostini v. Felton (1997)Santa Fe School District v. Doe (2000)Good News Club v. Milford Central School (2001)Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002)[Elk Grove v. Newdow (2004)]Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC (2012)Religious Displays[Stone v. Graham (1980)]Lynch v. Donnelly (1984)Van Orden v. Perry (2005)Salazar v. Buono (2010)American Legon v. American Humanist Association (2019)Prayers at Governmental MeetingsMarsh v. Chambers (1983)Free Exercise ClauseReynolds v. United States (1879)Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)Marsh v. Alabama (1946)Welsh v. United States (1970)Goldman v. Weinberger (1986)Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith (1990)Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (1993)Rosenberger v. University of Virginia (1995) [City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)]Gonzales v. Centro Espirita (2006)Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (2014)Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer (2017) Masterpiece Cakeshop, LTD v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018)Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo (2020)Fulton v. City Philadelphia (2021)[Uzuegbunun v. Preczewski (2021)]10 First Amendment: Political RightsAssociation [Implied], Assembly, and PetitionDeJonge v. Oregon (1937)Hague v. Congress of Industrial Organizations (1939)NAACP v. Alabama (1958)Branti v. Finkel (1980)Board of Directors of Rotary International v. Rotary Club of Duarte (1987)Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston (1995)Rumsfeld v. Forum (2006)PressAbrams v. United States (1919)Near v. Minnesota ex rel. Olson (1931)New York Times Company v. Sullivan (1964)New York Times Company v. United States (1971)Branzburg v. Hayes (1972)Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart (1976)Gannett Co. v. DePasquale (1979)Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Commonwealth of Virginia (1980)Chandler and Granger v. Florida (1981)Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988)SpeechCampaign-RelatedBuckley v. Valeo (1976)Elrod v. Burns (1976)Republican Party of Minnesota v. White (2002)Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)Arizona Free Enterprise v. Bennett (2011)McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission (2014) Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redictricting Commission (2015)Commercial SpeechVirginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia CitizensConsumer Council, Inc. (1976)First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti (1978)44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island (1996)Matal v. Tam (2017) Iancu v. Brunetti (2019)MiscellaneousElonis v. United States (2015)Walker v. Texas Div., Sons of Confederate Veterans, INC (2015) Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (2018)ObscenityBurstyn v. Wilson (1952)Roth v. United States (1957)Miller v. California (1973)New York v. Ferber (1982)Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (1997)National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley (1998)Subversive SpeechSchenck v. United States (1919) [Gitlow v. New York 1925)]American Communications Association v. Douds (1950)Dennis v. United States (1951)Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1967)Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)Symbolic Speech or Speech and ConductWest Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)Texas v. Johnson (1989)Erie v. Pap’s A.M. (2000)Virginia v. Black (2003)Student Speech[West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)] [Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)]Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser (1986)Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)Mahanoy Area School Dist. v. B. L. (2021)Time, Place, and Manner and Other Restrictions on SpeechKovacs v. Cooper (1949)Feiner v. New York (1951)Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation (1978)Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006)United States v. Stevens (2010)Snyder v. Phelps (2011)Brown v. Entertainment (2011)United States v. Alvarez (2012)Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015) 11 Second, Third, and Fourth AmendmentsThe Right to Bear ArmsDistrict of Columbia v. Heller (2008)McDonald v. Chicago (2010)Electronic SurveillanceOlmstead v. United States (1928)Katz v. United States (1967)United States v. United States District Court (1972)United States v. Jones (2012)Riley v. California (2014) Other Search and SeizureWeeks v. United States (1914)Mapp v. Ohio (1961)Terry v. Ohio (1968)Chimel v. California (1969)Zurcher v. the Stanford Daily (1978)Marshall v. Barlow’s, Inc. (1978)United States v. Ross (1982)United States v. Leon (1984)Nix v. Williams (1984)New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985)California v. Ciraolo (1986)California v. Greenwood (1988)Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls (2002)357 [Lawrence v. Texas (2003)]Thornton v. United States (2004)Safford Unified School District #1 v. Redding (2009)Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of City of Burlington (2012)Bailey v. United States (2013)Florida v. Harris (2013)Maryland v. King (2013)Carpenter v. United States (2018)12 Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth AmendmentsDouble Jeopardy and Right to ConfrontationUnited States v. Lanza (1922)[Palko v. Connecticut (1937)]Coy v. Iowa (1988)Sattazahn v. Pennsylvania (2003)Due Process[Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923)]Tumey v. Ohio (1927)Bolling v. Sharpe (1954)O’Connor v. Donaldson (1975)Bordenkircher v. Hayes (1978)DeShaney v. Winnebago Social Services (1989)Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co., Inc. (2009)FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. (2012)United States v. Windsor (2013)JuriesHurtado v. California (1884)Norris v. Alabama (1935)Duncan v. Louisiana (1968)Burch v. Louisiana (1979)Duren v. Missouri (1979)Batson v. Kentucky (1986)Ramos v. Louisiana (2020)Right to CounselPowell v. Alabama (1932)Chambers v. Florida (1940)Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)Miranda v. Arizona (1966)Argersinger v. Hamlin (1972)Dickerson v. United States (2000)Garza v. Idaho (2019)Self-Incrimination and Immunity[Adamson v. California (1947)] Ullmann v. United States (1956)Malloy v. Hogan (1964)Schmerber v. California (1966)Marchetti v. United States (1968)Cruel and Unusual PunishmentState of Louisiana ex rel. Francis v. Resweber (1947)Gregg v. Georgia (1976)McCleskey v. Kemp (1987)Thompson v. Oklahoma (1988)Payne v. Tennessee (1991)Atkins v. Virginia (2002)Ewing v. California (2003)Baze v. Rees (2008)Miller v. Alabama (2012)Glossip v. Gross (2015) 13 Ninth Amendment: Right to Privacy, and Other Unenumerated RightsParental and Marital RightsMeyer v. Nebraska (1923)Pierce v. Society of Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (1925)Buck v. Bell (1927)Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)Right to TravelShapiro v. Thompson (1969)Right to Die Zablocki v. Redhail (1978)Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health (1990)Vacco v. Quill, Washington v. Glucksberg (1997)Abortion Rights Roe v. Wade (1973)Harris v. McRae (1980)Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992)Gonzales v. Carhart (2007)Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt (2016) LGBTQ RightsBowers v. Hardwick (1986)Lawrence v. Texas (2003)Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) [Masterpiece Cakeshop, LTD. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018)]Bosdock v. Clayton County, Georgia (2020)[Fulton v. City of Philadelphia (2021)]14 Thirteenth and Fourteenth AmendmentsFourteenth and Fifteenth Enforcement PowersEnforcement PowersKatzenbach v. Morgan (1966)City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)Equal Protection and Privileges and ImmunitiesAfrican Americans and Racial ClassificationsScott v. Sandford (1857) [Slaughterhouse Cases 1873)]The Civil Rights Cases (1883)Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada (1938)Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)Sweatt v. Painter (1950)McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950) [Bolling v. Sharpe (1954)]Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)Brown v. Board of Education II (1955)Loving v. Virginia (1967)Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. (1968)Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971)Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis (1972)Milliken v. Bradley (1974)Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)United Steel Workers of America v. Weber, Kaiser Aluminum v. Weber, United States v. Weber (1979)Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena (1995)Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)Ricci v. DeStefano (2009)Fisher v. University of Texas (2016) Protection, Privileges, and ImmunitiesAliensUnited States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898)Oyama v. California (1948)Foley v. Connelie (1978)Plyler v. Doe (1982)Sessions v. Morales-Santana (2017) Sexual ClassificationsReed v. Reed (1971)Frontiero v. Richardson (1973)Michael M. v. Superior Court of Sonoma County (1981)Hishon v. King & Spalding (1984)United States v. Virginia (1996)[Bosdock v. Clayton County, Georgia (2020)]Various Other ClassificationsSan Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez (1973)Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center (1985)Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986)Gregory v. Ashcroft (1991)Romer v. Evans (1996)Connecticut Department of Public Safety v. John Doe (2003)[Lawrence v. Texas (2003)][Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)]15 Voting RightsVoting RightsEx parte Yarbrough (1884)Guinn v. United States (1915)United States v. Classic (1941)Smith v. Allwright (1944)Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960)Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)Reynolds v. Sims (1964)Oregon v. Mitchell (1970)Dunn v. Blumstein (1972)Shaw v. Reno (1993)Bush v. Gore (2000)Crawford v. Marion County (2008) Shelby County v. Holder (2013)Cooper v. Harris (2017)[Rucho v. Common Cause (2019)]Chialafo v. Washington (2020)Members of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789–2013The Constitution of the United StatesGlossary of Legal TermsAlphabetical List of Cases BriefedChronological List of Cases by Chief JusticeIndex

Essential Supreme Court Decisions remains the most comprehensive single collection of the Court's decisions. As with earlier editions, it is indispensable for the study of the work of the Supreme Court. Decisions are organized by constitutional articles, the Bill of Rights, and amendments. Essential.