Significant Supreme Court Rulings

Selective Incorporation Cases: (Fourteenth Amendment)

Just compensation Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad v. Chicago (1897)
Freedom of Speech Gitlow v. New York (1925)
Freedom of the press Near v. Minnesota (1931)
Right to counsel in capital cases Powell v. Alabama (1932)
Freedom of assembly DeJonge v. Oregon (1937)
Right to petition Hague v. Congress of Industrial Organizations (1939)
Free exercise of religion Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
No established national religion Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
Notice of accusation Cole v. Arkansas (1947)
Unreasonable search and seizure Wolf v. Colorado (1949)
No evidence from illegal searches Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
No cruel and unusual punishment Robinson v. California (1962)
Right to counsel in all felony cases Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
No self-incrimination Malloy v. Hogan (1964)
Right to confront witness Pointer v. Texas (1965)
Right to an impartial jury Parker v. Gladden (1966)
Right to a speedy trial Klopfer v. North Carolina (1967)
No double jeopardy Benton v. Maryland (1968)

Marbury v. Madison (1803): Established the principle of judicial review and the Supreme
Courts role of defender of the Constitution.
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819): Allowed Congress implied powers in the Constitution.
Upheld the Supremacy Clause of Article VI and the Necessary and Proper Clause of Article I.
Barron v. Baltimore (1833): The Bill of Rights was not applicable to the states. Overturned by
the Fourteenth Amendment.
Fletcher v. Peck (1810): Declared a state law unconstitutional for the first time. This was
significant because it meant that state laws were inferior to the U.S. Constitution.
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857): Slavery was constitutional based on a defense of states rights to
defend their own laws.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): The Supreme Court ruled that the doctrine separate but equal was
constitutional. Upheld the legality of segregation.
Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (1943): A compulsory flag salute in schools did
infringe upon the religious freedom of Jehovahs Witnesses under the First Amendment.
Korematsu v. United States (1944): An executive order forcing many Japanese Americans into
interment camps was constitutional. (*see strict scrutiny)
Trop v. Dulles (1958): Ruled that the death penalty was permissible, but that the meaning of the
Eighth Amendments cruel and unusual punishment clause was not permanently fixed, but
drew meaning from the standards of the day.
Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka (1954): A unanimous ruling that overturned Plessy v.
Ferguson and declared segregation in education unconstitutional.
Baker v. Carr (1962): States were required to establish equally populated political districts for
election of members to the state House of Representatives and Senate.
Engel v. Vitale (1962): Struck down a non-denominational prayer that began the school day in
New York City public schools.
Abington School District v. Schempp (1963): School district initiated prayers in a public school
were unconstitutional.
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963): A defendant has a right to a lawyer in a state court when arrested
for a felony.
Heart of Atlanta Hotel v. United States (1964): Upheld the constitutionality of the 1964 Civil
Rights Act on the grounds that local race discrimination had a negative impact on interstate
commerce.
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965): State laws banning all use of contraceptives are
unconstitutional.
Berger v. New York (1966): A wiretap without a warrant violates the Fourth Amendment.
Miranda v. Arizona (1966): Remaining silent under the Fifth Amendment before trial is a
constitutional right. Also, a defendant has to be read their rights.
Terry v. Ohio (1966): Granted police the authority to stop and frisk under certain situations.
Epperson v. Arkansas (1968): Ruled that a state ban on teaching Darwinism was
unconstitutional.
Tinker v. Des Moines (1969): Students retain their constitutional right of freedom of speech
while in public school.
New York Times v. United States (1971): The publishing of the Pentagon Papers was legal under
the First Amendment.

Reed v. Reed (1971): Discrimination based on gender is unconstitutional.

Furman v. Georgia (1972): Mandatory death penalties are unconstitutional.
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972): Made it impossible for states to have absolute power to compel
students to attend high school.
Roe v. Wade (1973): Ruled that abortion was constitutional and legal.
Miller v. California (1973): Obscenity test standard was created.
United States v. Richard Nixon (1974): Rejected Nixons claim of executive privilege and
forced him to hand over the Watergate tapes.
Gregg v. Georgia (1976): The death penalty is not inherently a cruel and unusual punishment.
University of California v. Bakke (1978): Race could be taken into account when deciding
admission to a university, but race should not be the only factor.
Goldwater v. Carter (1979): Ruled that the President could terminate a treaty, and Congress had
no right in the matter, unlike the ratification process.
Harris v. McRae (1980): A law preventing the use of Medicaid funding for abortions was
constitutional.
Roster v. Goldberg (1981): A law exempting women from the selective service was ruled
constitutional.
Plyer v. Doe (1982): Declared a state law denying public education to illegal aliens was
unconstitutional.
Lynch v. Donelly (1984): A public display of a nativity scene in a school was constitutional.
New York v. Quarles (1984): If public safety was threatened, a suspect could be questioned
before being read his rights.
T.L.O. v. New Jersey (1985): Permitted schools to conduct limited searches based on a standard
other than probable cause.
Wallace v. Jaffree (1985): A school district could not ban religious groups from using school
premises for a religious meeting after school hours.
Batson v. Kennedy (1986): Prosecutors could not use challenges to remove potential black jurors
in cases with black defendants.
Bowers v. Hardwick (1986): Homosexuality was not safeguarded by the Constitution, and states
could regulate homosexual activity. Georgias anti-sodomy law was in question here.

Rotary Club v. Rotary Club of Duarte (1987): Gender discrimination by a private organization
or club was unconstitutional.
Edwards v. Aguilar (1987): The Louisianas Balanced Treatment Act that required schools to
teach creationism beside Darwinism, was unconstitutional as it was an attempt to advance a
religious belief.
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1987): Upheld a school principals right to censor a
student newspaper.
Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988): material in Hustler Magazine is protected by the First
Amendment.
Stanford v. Kentucky (1989): The execution of juveniles was not prohibited by the Constitution.
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989): a state legislature could not adopt laws
restricting access to abortions.
Penry v. Lynaugh (1989): Sanctioned the death penalty for mentally retarded offenders because
the Court determined executing the mentally retarded was not cruel and unusual punishment.
Texas v. Johnson (1989): Texas law that banned the burning of the U.S. flag was
unconstitutional.
United States v. Eichman (1990): Flag burning was constitutional under the First Amendment
and struck down the 1989 Flag Protection Act.
Cruzan v. Director of Missouri Department of Health (1990): Affirmed the ruling of the
Supreme Court of Missouri requiring clear and convincing evidence to remove life support.
Minnesota v. Dickinson (1992): A police officer may seize drugs and other contraband felt in
clothing during a search for weapons.
United States v. Lopez (1995): A federal law banning the carrying of firearms in or near school
declared unconstitutional.
Knowles v. Iowa (1998): A police officer did not have the right to search a car stopped for a
speeding violation where the driver was not arrested.
New York v. Clinton, President of the United States (1998): The line-item veto was
unconstitutional because it gave the President law-making powers.
City of Chicago v. Morales (1999): The Court ruled that an anti-loitering law aimed at gangs was
an unconstitutional restriction on personal liberty.
Wyoming v. Houghton (1999): The searching of a passenger in a car, which was stopped by the
police to search the driver for drugs, was allowable.

Sternberg, Attorney General of Nebraska v. Carhart (2000): A Nebraska partial birth abortion
ban was unconstitutional because it took no account of the womans health and it imposed an
undue burden on the right to choose abortion.
Bush v. Gore (2000): The use of standardless manual recounts violated the equal protection
clause.
Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000): A New Jersey law that required the Scouts to admit Dale
as an adult member after he had been thrown out for being a homosexual, was unconstitutional
as it violated the Boy Scouts First Amendment rights.
Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000): A Texas school could not allow a prayer to
be said before high school football games. The student led prayer violated the Establishment
Clause of the First Amendment.
PGA Tour Inc. v. Martin (2001): The Americans with Disabilities Act applies to the PGA Tour
because it is open to the public.
United States v. Knights (2001): A policeman who searched a probationers apartment without a
warrant but with reasonable suspicion, did not infringe on the Fourth Amendment.
Atkins v. Virginia (2002): Execution of a mentally retarded criminal is excessive punishment and
violates the Eighth Amendment. Overturned Penry v. Lynaugh.
Lawrence v. Texas (2003): Struck down a Texas sodomy law and expanded the concept of sexual
privacy.
Kello v. New London (2005): Expanded the power of eminent domain for economic reasons.
Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008): The Eighth Amendment bars states from imposing the death
penalty for the rape of a child when the crime did not result in the death of a child.
District of Columbia v. Heller (2008): A D.C. code barring the carrying of a pistol without a
license is unconstitutional.
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2006): Hamdi, an American citizen, cannot be held indefinitely without
access to an attorney based on the executive branch declaring him an enemy combatant.
Safford v. Redding (2009): School officials violated an eighth grade students Fourth
Amendment rights after conducting a strip search.
Arizona v. Gant (2009): When police stop a driver, they may search inside the car only if they
have reason to believe it contains evidence of an offense.