Category: Supreme Court Decisions

In Corfield v. Coryell, 6 F. Cas. 546 (1823), Supreme Court Justice Bushrod Washington interprets the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article 4, Section 2 and articulates a list of fundamental rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Al...

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’ dissent in Abrams v. United States 250 U.S. 616 (1919) is widely regarded as one of the most famous dissents in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. It sowed the seeds for the modern interpretation of freedom of...

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 punishment if not imposed fairly. The decision imposed a brief moratorium ...

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 pledge of allegiance violates the First Amendment. The 6-3 decision was fit...

In Michigan v. Environmental Protection Agency, 576 U.S. (2015), the U.S. Supreme Court struck down an EPA rule regulating the emissions of mercury and other chemicals from electric power plants. By a vote of 5-4, the majority held that the EPA int...

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. Chambers held that the Nebraska Legislature's practice of opening each legislat...

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 held that arresting Jehovah’s Witnesses who were proselytizing door-to...

In Harris v. Quinn, 573 U.S. ___ (2014), the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the circumstances under which workers can be forced to join a union, pay dues and become public employees. By a vote of 5-4, the justices concluded that the First Amendment to...

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 Commerce Clause. However, the case is more famous for “Footnote Four,” ...