Lists of United States Supreme Court cases

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

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

• Chisholm v. Georgia February 19, 1793
• Marbury v. Madison February 24, 1803: judicial review
• Fletcher v. Peck March 16, 1810
• Martin v. Hunter's Lessee March 20, 1816
• McCulloch v. Maryland March 6, 1819
• Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward February 25, 1819
• Cohens v. Virginia 1821
• Gibbons v. Ogden 1824
• Barron v. Baltimore 1833
• Souther v. Virginia 1850
• Dred Scott v. Sandford 1857: slavery, citizenship
• 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
• Munn v. Illinois 1876
• Civil Rights Cases 1883
• Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad 1886
• Dent v. West Virginia 1889
• Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. 1895
• United States v. E. C. Knight Co. 1895
• Plessy v. Ferguson 1896: segregation, "separate but equal"
• Hawker v. New York 1898
• 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
• Guinn v. United States 1915
• Buchanan v. Warley 1917
• Schenck v. United States 1919: freedom of speech, "clear and present danger"
• 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 v. United States 1935: interstate commerce
• 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
• 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
• 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 be 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, 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
• Plyler v. Doe 1982
• Lynch v. Donnelly 1984
• Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios 1984: copyright, VCR "time-shifting"
• 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
• 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
• United States v. Shabani 1994
• Adarand Constructors v. Peña 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
• Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services 1998
• Hunt v. Cromartie 1999
• United States v. Morrison 2000
• Boy Scouts of America v. Dale 2000
• Bush v. Gore 2000
• Easley v. Cromartie 2001: racial discrimination, gerrymandering
• Eldred v. Ashcroft 2003: copyright
• 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