List of United States Supreme Court cases

Please see the legal disclaimer if you are looking for legal advice.

This is a chronological list of notable cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States.

Table of contents

1 1790-1819
2 1820-1839
3 1840-1859
4 1860-1879
5 1880-1899
6 1900-1919
7 1920-1939
8 1940-1959
9 1960-1979
10 1980-1999
11 2000-present

1790-1819

Chisholm v. Georgia February 19, 1793: first "major" case
Marbury v. Madison February 24, 1803: judicial review
Fletcher v. Peck March 16, 1810: property rights
Martin v. Hunter's Lessee March 20, 1816: Loyalist property forfeiture
McCulloch v. Maryland March 6, 1819
Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward February 25, 1819

1820-1839

Cohens v. Virginia 1821
Gibbons v. Ogden 1824
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia 1831: Indian nations as foreign states
Worcester v. Georgia 1832: Indian removal
Barron v. Baltimore 1833

1840-1859

Prigg v. Pennsylvania 1842: runaway slaves
Souther v. Virginia 1850
Dred Scott v. Sandford 1857: slavery, citizenship

1860-1879

Ex Parte Merriman 1861
Ex Parte Milligan 1866: habeas corpus, military tribunals
Ex Parte Garland 1866
Regina v. Hicklin 1868: attorney-client privilege, "work product"
Ex Parte McCardle 1869
United States v. Klein 1871
Slaughterhouse Cases 1872: freedom of employment
Bradwell v. Illinois 1873: equal protection, excluding women from employment
United States v. Cruikshank 1875: The First and Second Amendment do not apply to the States, despite the Fourteenth Amendment
Munn v. Illinois 1876

1880-1899

Civil Rights Cases 1883
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad 1886
Dent v. West Virginia 1889: state licensing of doctors
In re Debs 1894: strikes and interstate commerce
Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co 1895: income tax and tariffs
United States v. E. C. Knight Co 1895: antitrust action; "Sugar Trust Case"
Plessy v. Ferguson 1896: segregation, "separate but equal"
Hawker v. New York 1898: character and doctor's licenses
Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Education 1899: segregation in public schools

1900-1919

Lochner v. New York 1905: freedom of contract, substantive due process
Northwestern National Life Insurance Co. v. Riggs 1906
Muller v. Oregon 1908: protective labor laws, protection of women
Adair v. United States 1908
Bobbs-Merrill Co v. Straus 1908 Extension of copyright holder rights with license terms
Bauer & Cie. v. O'Donnell 1913 No extending patent with license, no exclusive right by holder on "use" of copyrighted works. Licesened and sold are the same thing if purchased as finished product.
Guinn v. United States 1915
Buchanan v. Warley 1917: racial covenants
Schenck v. United States 1919: freedom of speech, "clear and present danger"

1920-1939

Hammer v. Dagenhart 1921
Adkins v. Children's Hospital 1923: freedom of contract, minimum wage laws
Gitlow v. New York 1925
Myers v. United States 1926
Whitney v. California 1927
Near v. Minnesota 1931: freedom of speech
Powell v. Alabama 1932
Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States 1935: interstate commerce, New Deal
West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish 1937: freedom of contract, minimum wage laws, "the switch in time that saved nine"
Connecticut General Life Insurance Company v. Johnson 1938
United States v. Miller 1939

1940-1959

Chambers v. Florida 1940
Betts v. Brady 1942
Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire 1942: fighting words
Smith v. Allwright 1944
Korematsu v. United States 1944: Japanese internment
Shelley v. Kraemer 1948: equal protection, racial covenants
Wheeling Steel Corp. v. Glander 1949
Sweatt v. Painter 1950
McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents 1950
Dennis v. United States 1951
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka 1954: segregation , "separate inherently equal"
Roth v. United States 1957: obscenity
NAACP v. Alabama 1958

1960-1979

Boynton v. Virginia 1960
Mapp v. Ohio 1961: search and seizure, exclusionary rule
Engel v. Vitale 1962
Baker v. Carr 1962
Abington School District v. Schempp 1963
Gideon v. Wainwright 1963: right to counsel
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan 1964: freedom of speech, libel
Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States 1964: interstate commerce, civil rights, public accomodations
Wesberry v. Sanders 1964
Griswold v. Connecticut 1965: privacy, birth control
Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections 1966
Miranda v. Arizona 1966: self-incrimination, "you have the right to remain silent" * In Re Gault 1967
Loving v. Virginia 1967: interracial marriage
Street v. New York 1969
Tinker v. Des Moines Schools 1969: freedom of speech
Brandenburg v. Ohio 1969: freedom of speech, KKK
Cohen v. California 1971: freedom of speech, fighting words, "fuck the draft"
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education 1971
Lemon v. Kurtzman 1971: establishment of religion, schools, "the Lemon test"
Griggs v. Duke Power Co 1971
New York Times Co. v. United States 1971: freedom of the press, national security, Pentagon Papers
Edwards v. Agillard 1971
Furman v. Georgia 1972: death penalty, cruel and unusual punishment
Roe v. Wade 1973: abortion, due process, privacy
Miller v. California 1973: freedom of speech, Miller test for obscenity
United States v. Nixon 1974: judicial review, executive priviledge, separation of powers
Milliken v. Bradley 1974: segregation, busing
Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo 1974: freedom of speech
Gregg v. Georgia 1976: death penalty
Collins v. Smith 1976
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation 1978
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke 1978: racial discrimination, affirmative action

1980-1999

Plyler v. Doe 1982
Lynch v. Donnelly 1984
Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios 1984: copyright, VCR "time-shifting", fair use
''Wallace v. Jaffee' 1985
Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority 1985
Vinson v. Meritor Savings Bank 1986
Bowers v. Hardwick 1986: homosexuality
South Dakota v. Dole 1986
Edwards v. Aguillard 1987
Morrison v. Olson 1988
Hustler Magazine v. Falwell 1988: parody, emotional distress
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier 1988
Martin v. Wilks 1989
Texas v. Johnson 1989: freedom of speech (flag burning)
United States v. Eichman 1990: freedom of speech (flag burning)
Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service Co 1991: creativity required for copyright protection
Planned Parenthood v. Casey 1992: abortion
R. A. V. v. City of St. Paul 1992: fighting words, hate speech
Lee v. Weisman 1992
Alexander v. United States 1993
Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music 1994: copyright, commercial fair use is possible, parody
United States v. Shabani 1994
Adarand Constructors v. Pe�a 1995
United States v. Alfonso Lopez, Jr 1995: interstate commerce, gun-free school zones
Romer v. Evans 1996: equal protection, homosexuality
Hopwood v. Texas 1996
Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union 1997: free speech, obscenity, CDA
Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services 1998
Hunt v. Cromartie 1999 gerrymandering

2000-present

United States v. Morrison 2000
Boy Scouts of America v. Dale 2000: right of free association, homosexuality
Bush v. Gore 2000: elections
Easley v. Cromartie 2001: racial discrimination, gerrymandering
Grutter v. Bollinger 2003: racial discrimination, affirmative action, equal protection
Gratz v. Bollinger 2003: racial discrimination, affirmative action, equal protection
Lawrence v. Texas 2003: liberty, due process, homosexuality