History Summaries

Speech that, if it falls into one or more of several categories, is treated by the Supreme Court as entitled to no (or lessened) constitutional protection because of the harm to society such utterances may cause. In Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire[case]Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire[Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire] (1942), the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of […]

In its first major case dealing with affirmative action in employment, the Supreme Court held that private employers could voluntarily establish programs using racial preferences, including some quotas, in order to eliminate manifest racial imbalance, even without evidence that the employer was guilty of discrimination. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made […]

The Supreme Court struck down an amendment to the Arkansas constitution that imposed term limits for members of both houses of Congress. By 1995 Arkansas and twenty-two other states had adopted limits on the terms of office for members of Congress. By a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that such limits were unconstitutional. In […]

Permanent collection of books containing the official version of the full text of the opinions of the Supreme Court. The earliest volumes of the United States Reports were privately edited and published as a part-time endeavor by attorneys who often appeared before the Supreme Court.Reporters, Supreme Court Because these early reports were named after their […]

Most widely used weekly publication covering the activities of the Supreme Court and most current print source for the text of its decisions. Published by the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), a leading provider of loose-leaf legal services, United States Law Week is designed to keep lawyers aware of current developments in the federal courts, […]

The Supreme Court prohibited the government from using electronic surveillance without a search warrant. The administration of President Richard M. NixonNixon, Richard M. wanted to engage in electronic surveillance of dissident anti-Vietnam War and Civil Rights groups without having to obtain a search warrant. The government claimed that requiring warrants violated the separation of powers […]

The Supreme Court ruled that Congress had the authority to limit political activities of public employees, notwithstanding their loss of freedom of speech. Executive agency employees challenged the Hatch Act of 1940, which forbade executive branch officers and employees from exercising their freedom of speech by endorsing candidates and engaging in political campaigning. The Supreme […]

The Supreme Court upheld congressional enactments allowing the federal courts to issue injunctions when the government was the employer. A coal shortage resulting from failed contract negotiations between mine operators and the United Mine Workers (UMW) led President Harry S Truman to declare an emergency, seize the mines, and order the miners back to work. […]

The Supreme Court upheld a state reapportionment plan based on a strict racial quota. Justice Byron R. WhiteWhite, Byron R.;United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburgh v. Carey[United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburgh v. Carey] wrote the opinion for the 7-1 majority, upholding a New York state reapportionment scheme based explicitly on racial quotas. This scheme was required […]

Form of literacy test requiring prospective voters to demonstrate understanding of a portion of the U.S. Constitution or a state constitution. In an effort to circumvent the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave the right to voteVote, right to to African Americans, many southern states, beginning in the latter part of the nineteenth century, used poll taxes […]

The Supreme Court refused to protect those given limited immunity from prosecution in exchange for their testimony before a grand jury investigating communist activities. Justice Felix FrankfurterFrankfurter, Felix;Ullman v. United States[Ullman v. United States] wrote the opinion for the 7-2 majority, upholding the Immunity Act. A federal court acting under the Immunity Act ordered defendant […]

Reaffirming that the states could regulate only “business affected with a public interest,” the Supreme Court overturned a law restricting ticket scalping. During the 1920’s the New York State legislature passed a statute to protect the public against excessive charges in the resale of theater tickets. By a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that […]

As U.S. president, Tyler was a states’ rights advocate raised in the Democratic-Republicanism of the Jeffersonian era. He succeeded only once in six tries to have a Supreme Court nomination approved. The son of a prominent Virginia family, Tyler graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1807. He studied law under his father, […]

Reaffirming that the due process requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment did not include all the principles in the Bill of Rights, the Supreme Court ruled that the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination did not apply to the states. In a criminal trial, the trial judge instructed the jury that the defendant’s refusal to testify might […]

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that lowered the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen in federal, state, and local elections. As an extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which ensured equal voting rights for members of all minorities, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act Amendment of 1970, which lowered the minimum voting age […]

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that eliminated the poll tax as a qualification for voting in federal elections. Poll taxes, taxes that had to be paid before a person could vote,Vote, right to had been used to disenfranchise African Americans in the South since the mid-1800’s. In Breedlove v. Suttles[case]Breedlove v. Suttles[Breedlove v. Suttles] (1937), […]

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution repealing the Eighteenth Amendment, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating beverages. The Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, ending the thirteen-year period from 1920 to 1933 known as the ProhibitionProhibition era. The Eighteenth Amendment, also known as the Prohibition amendment, prohibited the manufacture, sale, […]

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that provides clear procedures for fulfilling the duties of the presidency should the president be unable to discharge the duties of the office, or in the event of the death, removal from office, or resignation of the president. It also provides for the prompt filling of the office of vice […]

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that separated the vice presidential and presidential voting in the electoral college, originally formalized in Article II of the Constitution. The Twelfth Amendment altered the stipulation in Article II of the U.S. Constitution that each elector cast two votes for president, and the candidate receiving the second highest number of […]

The Supreme Court, which typically took a conservative, probusiness, antilabor stance while William H. Taft was chief justice, struck down a state law protecting strikers against injunctions. Chief Justice William H. TaftTaft, William H.;Truax v. Corrigan[Truax v. Corrigan] wrote the opinion for the 5-4 majority, striking down an Arizona law that protected labor union strikers […]

The Supreme Court held that Congress could not authorize the military to deprive a soldier of his citizenship. A plurality of four justices wanted to rule that expatriation was a cruel and unusual punishment, violating the Eighth Amendment. Based on several acts of Congress, Albert Trop was sentenced to involuntary expatriation for the crime of […]

Known for his sound sense and legal knowledge, Trimble wrote sixteen majority opinions in only two years on the Supreme Court. His most important opinion upheld the right of states to make their own bankruptcy laws. What formal education Trimble obtained was from Bourbon Academy and Kentucky Academy, and he began practicing law in Paris, […]

Binding, normally written, international agreements between or among governments of states and/or intergovernmental organizations. It should be noted that the U.S. Constitution itself takes the form of a treaty and required the ratification of the conventions of nine states to enter into force. In dealing with treaties, the Supreme Court is guided by the language […]

Breaking allegiance to the U.S. government, through acts of war against it or aiding its enemy. Article III, section 3, of the Constitution limits treason to acts of war against the United States or giving aid and comfort to its enemies. The crime must be proved by the testimony of at least two witnesses to […]

Citizens’ right to move into, out of, among, and within states, foreign nations, and lesser political and geographic entities. The right to travel has been long recognized in Anglo-American law. An article of England’s Magna Carta (1215) recognized the right to foreign travel. The Articles of Confederation expressly guaranteed “free ingress and egress” from one […]

Supreme Court justice Todd was an authority on land law and supported the power of the federal government over the states. Todd moved to Kentucky, then part of Virginia, in 1784. When Kentucky became a state in 1792, he was chosen as clerk of the legislature. He became clerk of the state supreme court in […]

The Supreme Court’s decision strengthened the rights of freedom of speech and symbolic speech for students. Three Des Moines, Iowa, students protested the Vietnam War by wearing black arm bands to school in violation of the school’s policy. After they were suspended, the students challenged the policy, claiming it denied them their First Amendment rights. […]

The Supreme Court extended the application of the actual malice rule in libel cases to false-light privacy actions. An article in Life magazine contained inaccurate information about the Hill family, whose experiences while held in their own home by convicted criminals had been portrayed in a Broadway play. The Hill family sued the magazine’s publisher, […]

Permissible forms of prior restraint not based on content of expression that regulate when, where, and how expression may occur freely. In Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness[case]Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness[Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness] (1981), Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White identified four characteristics of a valid time, […]

Political dispute and litigation beginning in 1945 regarding state versus federal ownership of submerged offshore lands, or tidelands. The tidelands, a three-mile strip of submerged land along the coast, traditionally were controlled by the states. When California, Louisiana, and Texas issued offshore oil leases in the 1920’s and 1930’s, federal and state governments began to […]

The Supreme Court declared that peaceful labor union picketing was protected by the First Amendment. Justice Frank MurphyMurphy, Frank;Thornhill v. Alabama[Thornhill v. Alabama] wrote the opinion for the 8-1 majority, striking down an Alabama statute that prohibited all forms of labor union picketing. The Supreme Court clearly held that the First Amendment guarantee of the […]

The Supreme Court struck down a state law containing a number of restrictions on a woman’s right to obtain an abortion, but only five justices continued to use the strict scrutiny test in evaluating the constitutionality of such restrictions. Pennsylvania’s Abortion Control Act of 1982 had five major requirements: First, women were to be advised […]

Federal judge whose nomination by President Lyndon B. Johnson to the Supreme Court raised allegations concerning presidential “cronyism.” Thornberry was a Texas politician whom President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1965. Three years later, upon receiving word that Chief Justice Earl Warren intended to retire, Johnson planned to […]

As a Supreme Court justice, Thompson defended states’ rights against the power of the federal government. He also defended the right of groups of Native Americans to be considered sovereign nations. Thompson began practicing law in 1793 and served on the New York State supreme court from 1802 to 1818. President James Monroe appointed him […]

The confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, which became a nationally televised spectacle after charges of sexual harassment were made against Thomas by Anita Hill. After the resignation of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to serve on the Court, President George R. Bush sought to fill the vacancy with […]

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1865 that abolished slavery and allowed Congress to enact legislation enforcing the ban on slavery. After the end of the Civil War, in December, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified, abolishing slavery in the United States. Section 1 of the amendment prohibited slavery, and section 2 gave Congress the […]

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and part of the Bill of Rights that denies quarter in private homes to soldiers during times of peace. The last time the Third Amendment had serious literal application was during the Civil War (1861-1865), when property owners were made to house, feed, and generally support both Union and Confederate […]

Thayer’s beliefs that judicial review should be used very cautiously influenced a number of Supreme Court justices, including Felix Frankfurter and John M. Harlan II. Thayer began his career as a successful lawyer in Boston, but it was as a member of the law faculty at Harvard University that he made his greatest contribution to […]

During the Reconstruction era, the Supreme Court declared that secession by a state was unconstitutional and that Congress, in cooperation with the president, had authority to determine policies for the reconstruction of the southern states. Following the Civil War (1861-1865), the provisional government of Texas attempted to recover title to bonds that had been sold […]

The Supreme Court directly struck down state flag desecration laws. A member of the CommunistCommunism Party burned the U.S. flag outside the Republican National Convention during a presidential election year in violation of Texas’s statute banning desecration of the flag. By a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court struck down the Texas statute on the grounds […]

The Supreme Court denied review of a circuit court decision that prohibited almost all considerations of race in the admissions policies of educational institutions. In the late 1990’s there was a national movement against the use of racial preferences in education and employment. The Supreme Court in Adarand Constructors v. Peña[case]Adarand Constructors v. Peña[Adarand Constructors […]

The Supreme Court upheld stop and frisk procedures in the first of a long series of cases. Chief Justice Earl Warren,Warren, Earl;Terry v. Ohio[Terry v. Ohio] writing for an eight-member majority, upheld Terry’s conviction and an Ohio law allowing stop and frisk procedures. These procedures allow a police officer to stop people on the street […]

The Supreme Court clearly declared the white primary unconstitutional. Beginning in 1889, the Jaybird Democratic Association in Texas started the practice of holding a primary election to select candidates for the Democratic Party in order to circumvent the Fifteenth Amendment. These candidates, often uncontested, usually were elected to office. Although white voters could participate in […]

Terry’s death during an assault on a Supreme Court justice resulted in a Court ruling regarding immunity for federal officials who violate state laws while performing their duties. Terry opened a law office in Stockton, California, in 1849. A member of the Know-Nothing Party, Terry was elected to the state supreme court in 1855. Two […]

Land belonging to the United States that has not become a state and defined areas that just gained statehood. The Treaty of Paris, by which England recognized the independence of the United States, gave to the Americans not only the territories of the thirteen states but also the lands east of the Mississippi and north […]

The Supreme Court strengthened freedom of speech rights when speakers draw hostile opposition. Justice William O. DouglasDouglas, William O.;Terminiello v. Chicago[Terminiello v. Chicago] wrote the opinion for the 5-4 majority, overturning the conviction of a profascist, anti-Semitic priest named Terminiello who spoke to a sympathetic audience while a hostile crowd gathered outside. Terminiello was arrested […]

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and part of the Bill of Rights that reserves for the states those powers not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution. The Tenth Amendment protects the reserved powersReserved powers of the state, those not delegated to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution. The First Congress received numerous […]

The Supreme Court held that a police officer may use deadly force only when there is probable cause to believe that the suspect poses an immediate threat of death or physical harm to the officer or to others. In 1974 a fifteen-year-old boy, Edward Garner, broke a window to enter an unoccupied house in Memphis, […]

The Supreme Court held that women could not be excluded from juries, even indirectly. A Louisiana man charged with rape argued that the state’s volunteer jury service provision violated his Sixth Amendment right to a jury that represented a cross section of the local population. The volunteer method often created juries that were composed mainly […]

First clause of Article I, section 8, of the U.S. Constitution, authorizing Congress to collect taxes and spend money for the general welfare. The taxing and spending clause grants Congress the authority to acquire revenues to finance federal government programs, make payments to individuals, and provide grants-in-aid to states. The power to tax became controversial […]

Constitutional principle that exempts federal and state government agencies, activities, and property from taxation by one another. The U.S. Constitution does not expressly immunize the federal government from state taxation, nor the states from federal taxation. However, in McCulloch v. Maryland[case]McCulloch v. Maryland[MacCulloch v. Maryland] (1819), the Supreme Court inferred the federal government’s immunity from […]

Although Taney is ranked by many scholars as one of the great chief justices, his reputation is marred by his support of the rights of slaveholders. Taney was born into a wealthy Maryland family that farmed tobacco. He studied law and entered Maryland politics. As a member of the Federalist Party, he advocated some government […]

The Supreme Court held that Native Americans in tribal courts were not protected in the same way as other U.S. citizens. A Native American convicted of murder in a Cherokee nation court maintained that his trial was unfair because the indicting grand jury had only five members, contrary to the Fifth Amendment. However, by an […]

Provision in the Fifth Amendment that prohibits the taking of private property for public use unless the owner is appropriately compensated. The U.S. Constitution contains a number of provisions that seek to protect private ownership of property and property rightsProperty rights more generally. Chief among these is the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment. The […]

Taft was the only person who became both president of the United States and a chief justice of the United States. As president, he appointed six members to the Court, including a chief justice. Taft came from a distinguished Ohio family. His father, Alphonso Taft, served as secretary of war and then attorney general in […]

Communication by means other than oral speech or the printed word, usually through objects or actions that have some special significance, such as picketing, burning flags or draft cards, marching, and wearing protest armbands. The Supreme Court gradually developed a theory of how the First AmendmentFirst Amendment applies to so-called “symbolic speech.” However, no doubt […]

In suits arising from diversity citizenship, the Supreme Court held that federal courts were free to exercise an independent judgment in principles of general commercial law, even if the principles were inconsistent with decisions of state courts. Section 34 of the Judiciary Act of 1789Judiciary Act of 1789;section 34 required federal courts to follow state […]

Adopting the stream of commerce doctrine, the Supreme Court held that antitrust laws could be constitutionally applied to stockyard transactions. The federal government charged several meatpackers, including Swift and Company, with fixing livestock prices at the stockyards, in violation of the Sherman Antitrust ActSherman Antitrust Act (1890). The companies argued that the buying and selling […]

The first of Abraham Lincoln’s five Supreme Court appointees, Swayne was chosen because of his strong unionist sentiment. He supported the administration’s war efforts during and after the Civil War. Born in Virginia, Swayne moved to Ohio after earning his law degree. He spent several years serving as a state legislator and U.S. attorney. With […]

The Supreme Court decided that federal courts may order local school boards to use extensive busing plans to desegregate schools whenever racial segregation had been supported by public policy. When the Supreme Court invalidated freedom-of-choice plans in Green v. County School Board of New Kent County[case]Green v. County School Board of New Kent County[Green v. […]

Sutherland was the most intellectually able of a conservative bloc of justices who reaffirmed earlier tenets of individualism and limited government during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Born in England, Sutherland immigrated with his parents to Utah before his second birthday. His parents came as Mormon converts; however, his father, Alexander variously a miner, storekeeper, and […]

Categorization and differential treatment of persons by the government according to generally irrelevant characteristics that raise the suspicion of invidious discrimination. The Supreme Court generally presumes that legal distinctions among persons regulated by public action are rational means to achieve legitimate ends. To do otherwise would require it to second-guess the complex political decisions of […]

Unofficial edition of the Supreme Court’s decisions that began publication in 1883. The Supreme Court Reporter is published by a private publishing house, the West Publishing Company. Printing was started with the decisions of the October, 1882, session. Advance sheets with final page numbering are issued on a semimonthly basis; however, the advance sheets do […]

Canada’s highest court, sanctioned by section 101 of the Constitution Act of 1867, functions as a final general court of appeal, the last judicial resort for all litigants, both individuals and governments. In 1875, using the authority granted by the Constitution Act of 1867,Constitution Act of 1867 (Canada) members of Parliament passed the Supreme Court […]

State or local laws that close all but essential businesses on Sunday to promote rest and the common welfare of the nation. The first Sunday closing laws, or blue laws, went into effect in colonial America and were expressly designed to enable people to celebrate the Christian Sabbath. After the Civil War, businesses began to […]

A deliberate, underhanded effort to sabotage, undermine, overthrow, or destroy an existing, duly constituted government by unlawful means. As the Cold WarCold War era crystallized after World War II, many U.S. citizens feared that communist spies were undermining the U.S. government and treacherously misdirecting foreign policy. The attorney general drew up a list of ninety […]

The Supreme Court voided a state law that discharged a debt and thereby violated the contracts clause. Chief Justice John MarshallMarshall, John;Sturges v. Crowninshield[Sturges v. Crowninshield] wrote the unanimous opinion for the Supreme Court, voiding a New York statute that attempted to provide debt relief for debtors who would assign their property for the benefit […]

The Supreme Court upheld a congressional modification of the federal court structure. In 1802 Congress repealed the 1801 Judiciary ActJudiciary Acts of 1801-1925, abolishing previously established circuit courts and depriving sitting judges of their positions, despite the Article III, section 1, lifetime term protections. Congress also required Supreme Court justices to ride the circuits as […]

Strong wrote the Court majority opinion that upheld the Legal Tender Act of 1862 and the constitutional opinion that African Americans had a right to not be discriminated against in the selection of jurors. After graduating from Yale Law School in 1828, Strong practiced law in Pennsylvania from 1832 to 1847. From 1847 to 1851 […]

The Supreme Court first used the Fourteenth Amendment’s incorporation of the First Amendment to strike a state law limiting freedom of speech. During the Red Scare (anticommunist hysteria) after World War I, California banned the display of a red flag but did not enforce the law until a right-wing group, Better American Federation, persuaded a […]

The Supreme Court established the rule of complete diversity in federal courts. Chief Justice John MarshallMarshall, John;Strawbridge v. Curtiss[Strawbridge v. Curtiss] wrote the opinion for the 6-0 majority, interpreting the command in Article III of the Constitution that the federal judiciary shall cover controversies “between the citizens of different states.” This case raised the question […]

The Supreme Court declared that exclusion of African Americans from juries was a violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. During the late nineteenth century, West Virginia had a statute that explicitly limited jury service to “white male persons.” Strauder, a black man convicted of murder, claimed that he had not received […]

As a Supreme Court ally of Chief Justice John Marshall, Story contributed to the early formation of constitutional law in the United States, particularly in determining the appellate role of the Court in civil cases. Story graduated with honors from Harvard University in 1798 and was admitted to the Essex County bar in 1801. A […]

The authority of the police, under certain circumstances, to approach and conduct an investigatory detention of a citizen and a limited search for weapons. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable search and seizureSearch and seizure by the police without a warrant. The Uniform Arrest Act of 1942 and some state statutes, including a New York law, […]

The Supreme Court limited the habeas corpus appeals that could be made to it. Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr.,Powell, Lewis F., Jr.;Stone v. Powell[Stone v. Powell] wrote the opinion for the 6-3 majority. Congress had allowed state convicts to petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging their state convictions, despite the general legal presumption […]

The Supreme Court narrowed the scope of the application of the contracts clause to public contracts. Early in U.S. history, the Supreme Court determined that both public and private contracts were covered by the Constitution’s ban on the impairment of contracts. This proposition was harder to maintain for public contracts. John B. Stone’s corporation was […]

As an associate justice, Stone established a bedrock doctrine for judicial responsibility in the area of civil rights and promoted a philosophy of judicial self-restraint. Power struggles and discord among several strong-willed associate justices lessened the effectiveness of his tenure as chief justice. Stone was born in New Hampshire but grew up near Amherst, Massachusetts, […]

A member of the Supreme Court under both Earl Warren and Warren E. Burger, Stewart served as an independent voice on the Court for twenty-two years, making contributions in the areas of criminal justice reform, search and seizure laws, capital punishment, gender discrimination, and civil rights. Stewart was born in Jackson, Michigan, the son of […]

The Supreme Court upheld the portion of the 1935 Social Security Act that established unemployment compensation. Justice Benjamin N. CardozoCardozo, Benjamin N.;Steward Machine Co. v. Davis[Steward Machine Co. v. Davis] wrote the opinion for the 5-4 majority sustaining the 1935 Social Security Act’s provision for unemployment compensation. The Supreme Court clearly departed from its earlier […]

Judicial determining of the meaning of statutes enacted by a legislature. Much federal and state law is based on statutes enacted by legislatures. Indeed, because little federal common law exists, almost all federal law except constitutional law is statutory. Article I of the Constitution states that a federal statute must be approved by a majority […]

Constitutional argument that state governments possess sovereignty, autonomous governing power that approximates the authority and status of the federal government. The states’ rights argument dates back to the founding of the United States and the first national constitution, the Articles of ConfederationArticles of Confederation. The articles were drafted by delegates of the “states in Congress […]

System used by state governments to raise revenue. State governments rely on a variety of taxes to collect revenue, primarily income, sales and use, and property taxes. Because the U.S. Constitution restricts states’ right to tax, challenges to the taxing jurisdiction of states have come before the Supreme Court. States have latitude to tax, and […]

Courts that can hear cases subject to state constitutions and laws, in contrast to federal courts, established under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, which hear cases involving federal law. Much of the judicial activity that takes place in the United States falls within the jurisdiction of state courts, which range from traffic courts and […]

Supreme statements of state law, these documents outline fundamental political processes, set out the relationships between various governing institutions, and define a set of state-specific rights protected from government incursion. While the Supreme Court and the U.S. Constitution are sometimes thought of as the exclusive guarantors of legal rights, for many years, state constitutions provided […]

Actions for which the state government has some responsibility, whether by causing, requiring, or sanctioning their occurrence. Synonymous with “under the color of state law.” The Fourteenth Amendment, adopted in 1868, sought to provide equal protection for newly freed African Americans. The amendment stipulates that “No state shall…deny to any person…the equal protection of the […]

The Supreme Court voided a child support statute as a violation of the equal protection clause. Utah’s highest court of appeals upheld a state law setting the maximum age for child support for males at twenty-one and females at eighteen, finding women matured faster than men. Thelma Stanton sued her former husband after he stopped […]

The forced resignation of Stanton, secretary of war under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, served as the focal point of Johnson’s impeachment trial. In December, 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant nominated Stanton as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. He was confirmed easily by the Senate but died before he could take the […]

The Supreme Court broadly declared that adults have the right to possess pornographic materials in the privacy of their own homes. The Supreme Court unanimously decided that a state could not convict adults for the mere possession of legally obscene materials in their own homes. In part, Thurgood Marshall’sMarshall, Thurgood;Stanley v. Georgia[Stanley v. Georgia] opinion […]

The Supreme Court upheld executions of juveniles who committed murder. Justice Antonin ScaliaScalia, Antonin;Stanford v. Kentucky[Stanford v. Kentucky] wrote the opinion for the 5-4 majority sustaining the execution of persons who were juveniles over the age of sixteen at the time they committed the capital offense. Scalia reviewed the practices of capital punishment in the […]

A jurisdictional requirement in federal court that a litigant have been injured or threatened with imminent injury by the governmental action of which he or she complains. Sometimes called “standing to sue.” Unlike the other federal justiciability doctrines mootness, ripeness, political question, and the ban on advisory opinions standing focuses primarily on the party bringing […]

When upholding a lower court’s decree to break up the Standard Oil Company, the Supreme Court concluded that the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) forbade only unreasonable combinations or agreements in restraint of trade. The Standard Oil case occurred at a time of great controversy concerning the meaning of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. One […]

Perhaps the most gifted and well-liked U.S. attorney general in U.S. history, Stanbery had his nomination to the Supreme Court blocked by the Radical Republicans in Congress, who had failed in their effort to impeach President Andrew Johnson. An 1819 graduate of Washington College in Pennsylvania (later Washington and Jefferson College), Stanbery became one of […]

The staff, other than the justices, employed by the Supreme Court to oversee day-to-day operations of the Court. The Supreme Court’s staff of nonjudicial employees is one of the smallest staffs in the government. The chief justice is responsible for hiring and firing all employees; however, each justice selects a personal staff. The Court has […]

The Supreme Court upheld the 1862 income tax used to finance the Civil War, holding that it was not a direct tax. In 1862 an income tax was enacted to help pay for the Civil WarCivil War. Attorney William Springer refused to pay the income tax on his earnings, arguing that the tax was an […]

Whig Party member Spencer’s nomination to the Supreme Court failed, probably because President John Tyler, who appointed him, lacked the support of the Whigs or the Democrats. A member of the Whig Party and a friend of President John Tyler, Spencer was appointed to the Supreme Court in September, 1844, but the Senate, despite having […]

Presentation of an accused person for trial within a reasonable amount of time to expedite justice and to prevent defendants from languishing in jail indefinitely. The guarantee of a speedy trial for persons accused of criminal wrongdoing is a concept rooted in English common law. Although the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the […]

Constitutional rights to speak freely and to publish one’s views, free of government censorship. When most Americans consider the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or the Supreme Court, inevitably they think about freedom of speech and freedom of the press. These twin freedoms, expressly guaranteed in the First AmendmentFirst Amendment, represent the quintessential liberties […]

Article I, section 6, of the U.S. Constitution grants both civil and criminal immunity to all members of Congress during the performance of their official legislative duties. Wishing to avoid problems such as those between the British parliament and the crown, the Framers of the U.S. Constitution wanted members of Congress to participate in legislative […]

The Supreme Court limited the lower federal courts’ ability to impose fines on local governing bodies. The Yonkers, New York, city council reneged on a consent decree in which it agreed to stop using federal public housing funds to promote segregated public housing. The federal district court imposed daily increasing fines for contempt both on […]

The Supreme Court’s ruling was soon superseded by a law enacted by Congress. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, the Supreme Court had consistently held that insurance policies were not interstate commerce and that states were free to regulate the industry, including out-of-state companies that wrote policies in their states. However, the U.S. Justice Department sued […]