Landmark Supreme Court cases

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Short list of Landmark Supreme Court cases[edit | edit source]

cases as generally recommended for core study for the AP Gov exam
review of additional cases will yield greater student comprehension and analysis


Case	Date	Court	Big Ideas/ Court Doctrine	Constitutional Issues	Constitutional Issues	Issues / Background / Description / Opinion	Dissent (if relevant)	Related Cases
Baker v. Carr	1961	Warren	- "One person one vote" standard - Political Question doctrine	Equal protection	judicial review	held that the state of Tennessee had ignored a 1901 state law that required redistricting to be adjusted according to census results; the state had not drawn new districts since 1901, resulting in overrepresentation of rural over urban citizens - the court held that challenges to state districting (gerrymandering) issues were not merely "political questions" and thus subject to Court review the Court was split on the case and the case had to be re-argued	- Justice Brennan argued that redistricting is a political question and should be left up to the states - Justice Frankfurter held that the decision was "judicial overreach"	Reynolds v. Sims (1964) Shaw v. Reno , 1993)
Marbury v. Madison	1803	Marshall	Judicial supremacy	Original jurisdiction (Article III, Section 2)	"legal remedy" concept ^[1]	settled a dispute between outgoing Adams and incoming Jefferson administrations over Adams' "midnight appointments", including one to Marbury ruled that Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1793 was illegal under the Constitution, thus establishing "judicial review" created the power of the Courts to invalidate statutory laws based upon their "constitutionality" - Marbury lost his case, as the Court ruled that any legal remedy due to him was from an invalid law Marshall quoted Federalist No. 78 by Hamilton, "... that an act of the legislature, repugnant to the constitution, is void."^[2]	none (unanimous decision)	Hylton v. United States (1796)^[3]
McColluch v. Maryland	1819	Marshall	implied powers	Supremacy clause (Article VI)	Necessary and proper clause	- Maryland tried to stop the Baltimore branch of the Second National Bank by taxing it - the Court ruled that the National Bank was legitimate and superseded (was over) state law, thus Maryland could not tax it - the Court ruled that if the National Bank was legal (constitutional) measures to implement it were also Constitutional via the "necessary and proper clause" - additionally, if a federal law was legal it is also "supreme" (Article VI) over state law - Marshall's ruling denied 10th amendment reservations of unexpressed powers
Brown v. Board of Education	1954	Warren	equal protection	Equal protection		- overturned Plessy v. Furguson

Full list of Landmark Supreme Court cases[edit | edit source]

Landmark Supreme Court cases: alphabetical[edit | edit source]

Landmark Supreme Court cases: by date & historical era[edit | edit source]

Landmark Supreme Court cases: by topic[edit | edit source]

↑ Marshall invoked (referenced) the ancient Roman legal maxim ubi jus, ibi remedium for "where there is a legal right, there is a legal remedy"
↑ Note that Hamilton did not envision Judicial review, instead arguing that the Congress must avoid unconstitutional unto itself.
↑ In this case the Court upheld a challenge to a law's constitutionality, in that a tax on carriages did not violate the Constitution. Marbury was not decided on this precedent, however, Chief Justice Roberts cited Hylton in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012)

[1] Marshall invoked (referenced) the ancient Roman legal maxim ubi jus, ibi remedium for "where there is a legal right, there is a legal remedy"

[2] Note that Hamilton did not envision Judicial review, instead arguing that the Congress must avoid unconstitutional unto itself.

[3] In this case the Court upheld a challenge to a law's constitutionality, in that a tax on carriages did not violate the Constitution. Marbury was not decided on this precedent, however, Chief Justice Roberts cited Hylton in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012)

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