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Short list of Landmark Supreme Court cases

  • 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 (14th amendment) 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]


Full list of Landmark Supreme Court cases

Landmark Supreme Court cases: alphabetical

Landmark Supreme Court cases: by date & historical era

Landmark Supreme Court cases: by topic

  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)