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Bush v. Gore (2000)
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This landmark Supreme Court ruling decided the result of the 2000 presidential election: -The election was so close that it depended on which candidate could win Florida's Electoral College votes. -After a machine recount, George W. Bush led Al Gore by just 327 votes out of 6 million cast. -The Florida Supreme Court ordered a manual recount in certain counties, a decision that Bush appealed to the US Supreme Court. -It ruled 5-4 (on ideological lines) that a recount within the timeframe set in Florida was unconstitutional. -All conservative justices voted in Bush's favour. -All liberal justices voted against. -This was one of the most controversial decisions ever made by the Court as it decided the general election, with Bush becoming president by 271 to 266 Electoral College votes as a result. -Liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote a scathing opinion on the case, which substituted the traditional 'I respectfully dissent' with the stinging 'I dissent'. |
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Fletcher v. Peck (1810)
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This Supreme Court ruling re-affirmed that American courts had the power of judicial review, as set out in Marbury v. Madison (1803): -It was the first court ruling that ruled a state law unconstitutional. -The decision created a growing precedent for the sanctity of legal contracts and hinted that Native Americans did not hold complete title to their own lands. |
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Furman v. Georgia (1972)
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This landmark Supreme Court ruling was a landmark criminal case in which the United States Supreme Court invalidated all then existing legal constructions for the death penalty in the United States. -It was a 5–4 decision. -Each member of the majority wrote a separate opinion, as they could not agree as to a rationale. Therefore, there was not any signed opinion of the court or any plurality opinion. -The Supreme Court's decision marked the first time the Justices vacated a death sentence under the 8th Amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause, resulting in over 630 death sentences being vacated. -The ruling caused all death sentences pending at the time to be reduced to life imprisonment. -Following the ruling, to reinstate the death penalty, states had to at least remove arbitrary and discriminatory effects in order to satisfy the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution. -The decision mandated a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. This case resulted in a de facto moratorium on capital punishment throughout the United States.
The case Gregg v. Georgia was decided in 1976 to allow the death penalty. |
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District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)
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This Supreme Court ruling struck down a law in the District of Columbia which banned handgun ownership and ruled that the 2nd amendment does confer an individual right to bear arms, which cannot be overruled by individual state legislatures.
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Roe v. Wade (1973)
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This Supreme Court case established a woman's legal right to an abortion. The case involved a woman, identified as "Jane Roe," who sought to terminate her pregnancy but was denied by Texas law that prohibited abortion except to save the mother's life.
The Supreme Court ruled that a woman has a constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy up until the point that the fetus is "viable," or able to survive outside the womb. The decision was based on the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which protects an individual's liberty and privacy rights.
This ruling was overturned by a 5–4 decision in on 24th June 2022. |
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Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
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This Supreme Court case used the 14th Amendment to challenge the constitutionality of racial segregation in public schools. The case argued that racially segregated facilities, including segregated schools, are inherently unequal, ruling they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits states from denying equal protection of the law to any person within their jurisdiction.
This overruled Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which declared the 'separate but equal' clause was constitutional, which meant racial segregation laws did not violate the U.S. Constitution as long as the facilities for each race were equal in quality.
The Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional because it denied black students equal protection under the law. This led to the desegregation of American schools. |
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Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)
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This Supreme Court case used the 14th Amendment to rule that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause (guaranteeing “due process of law” before the government may deprive someone of “life, liberty, or property") and the Equal Protection Clause ("nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws").
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Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
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This landmark Supreme Court ruling unanimously ruled that the 6th Amendment of the US Constitution requires US states to provide attorneys to criminal defendants who are unable to afford their own: -The case extended the right to counsel, which had been found under the 5th and 6th Amendments to impose requirements on the federal government, by imposing those requirements upon the states as well. |
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United States v. Nixon (1974)
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This Supreme Court ruling unanimously ordered President Richard Nixon to deliver tape recordings and other subpoenaed materials related to the Watergate scandal to a federal district court: -The ruling was important to the late stages of the Watergate scandal, amidst an ongoing process to impeach Richard Nixon. -It is considered a crucial precedent limiting the power of any U.S. president to claim executive privilege. -Nixon resigned sixteen days later, on August 9, 1974. |
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Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
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The Supreme Court held that under the 5th Amendment to the US Constitution, criminal suspects must be informed of their right to consult with an attorney and of their right against self-incrimination (to remain silent) prior to questioning by police. If this doesn't happen, the person's statements cannot be used as evidence at their trial.
This ruling was viewed by many as a radical change in American criminal law, since the 5th Amendment was traditionally understood only to protect Americans against formal types of compulsion to confess, such as threats of contempt of court.
Because of this ruling, law enforcement have to give the Miranda warning as part of routine police procedure to ensure that suspects are informed of their rights. |
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Citizens United v. FEC (2010)
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This landmark Supreme Court ruling held 5–4 that the freedom of speech clause of the 1st Amendment prohibits the government from restricting independent expenditures for political campaigns by corporations, including non-profit corporations, labor unions, and other associations: -The ruling effectively freed corporations (including incorporated non-profit organisations) to spend money on electioneering communications and to directly advocate for the election or defeat of candidates. -This ruling led to the creation of SuperPACs and a massive rise in the amount of third-party electioneering (Citizens for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow). -While the long-term legacy of this case remains to be seen, early studies by political scientists have concluded that Citizens United worked in favour of the electoral success of Republican candidates.
The case did not involve the federal ban on direct contributions from corporations or unions to candidate campaigns or political parties, which remain illegal in races for federal office. |
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Boumediene v. Bush (2008)
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This Supreme Court ruling ruled that foreign nationals detained as terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay by George W. Bush's administration had a right to challenge their detentions in federal courts.
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Marbury v. Madison (1803)
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This landmark Supreme Court ruling established the principle of judicial review in the United States, meaning that American courts (including the Supreme Court) have the power to strike down laws and statutes they find to violate the Constitution of the United States: -The Court's landmark decision established that the US Constitution is actual law, not just a statement of political principles and ideals. -It also helped define the boundary between the constitutionally separate executive and judicial branches of the federal government.
-Apart from ruling Madison's withholding of Marbury's commission was illegal, they also ruled that they could not grant Marbury his requested writ of mandamus, as from examining Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789, the Court found that the Act had expanded the definition of the Supreme Court's jurisdiction beyond what was originally set forth in the U.S. Constitution. -Therefore, the Court then struck down Section 13 of the Act, announcing that American courts have the power to invalidate laws that they find to violate the Constitution. |
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United States v. Texas (2016)
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This Supreme Court ruling struck down Barack Obama's executive order giving an indefinite delay in deportation to around 5 million illegal immigrants.
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Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. (2014)
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This Supreme Court ruling struck down part of the Affordable Care Act 2010, which made family-run businesses contribute to health insurance that might be used for contraception.
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