Landmark Decisions of US Courts (1793-1936)
Find here a selection of major constitutional and administrative decisions handed down by United States courts between 1793 and 1936
The following table was compiled using Élisabeth Zoller’s Les grandes décisions de la Cour Suprême des États-Unis (Dalloz, 2010), as well as various American textbooks and treatises.
The decisions are arranged in chronological order. Decisions marked with an asterisk (*) appear in Élisabeth Zoller’s volume.
The topics selected here are: separation of powers; federalism; civil rights; fundamental rights; and fundamental principles of constitutional law.”
Citation
Court
Issue
Key-words
Summary
1
Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 U.S. 419 (1793)
Supreme Court
fundamental principles of constitutional law
State immunity ; article III ; federal jurisdiction
2
Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803)*
Supreme Court
fundamental principles of constitutional law
Constitutional review ; article III ; fundamentality ; Supreme Court jurisdiction
3
Little v. Barreme, 6 U.S. (2 Cranch) 170 (1804)
Supreme Court
Separation of powers
Governmental powers ; inherent powers ; Supreme Court jurisdiction ; fundamentality
4
Fletcher v. Peck, 10 U.S. 87 (1810)
Supreme Court
Federalism
Constitutional review ; article III ; fundamentality
5
Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee, 14 U.S. 304 (1816)
Supreme Court
Federalism
Fundamentality ; article I ; article III ; treaties ; Supreme Court jurisdiction
6
McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316 (1819)*
Supreme Court
Federalism
Congressional powers ; article I ; Necessary and Proper laws ; fundamentality
7
Cohens v. Virginia, 19 U.S. 264 (1821)*
Supreme Court
Federalism
Constitutional review ; article III ; 11th Amendement ; Necessary and Proper laws
8
Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. 1 (1824)*
Supreme Court
Federalism
Congressional powers ; article I ; the Commerce Clause
9
Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 (1832)
Supreme Court
Federalism
Indigenous sovereignty ; article I ; division of powers
10
Barron v. Baltimore, 32 U.S. 243 (1833)*
Supreme Court
Federalism
Bill of Rights ; inapplicability to constituent States
11
Wheaton v. Peters, 33 U.S. 591 (1834)
Supreme Court
fundamental principles of constitutional law
Copyright ; article I ; enforcement of judgements
12
Dred Scott v Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857)
Supreme Court
Civil rights
racial equality ; 5th amendment ; slavery ; antebellum period
13
Ex parte Milligan, 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) 2 (1866)
Supreme Court
Separation of powers
Military tribunals ; article III ; judicial independence
14
Texas v. White, 74 U.S. 700 (1869)
Supreme Court
Federalism
War of Secession ; reconstruction ; Supreme Court jurisdiction
15
Slaughter-House Cases, 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 36 (1873)*
Supreme Court
fundamental principles of constitutional law
American citizenship ; 14th amendment ; dual citizenship
16
Strauder v. West Virginia, 100 U.S. 303 (1880)
Supreme Court
Civil rights
Racial equality ; 14th amendment ; Equal Protection Clause ; criminal procedure ; federalism
17
Civil Rights Cases, 109 U.S. 3 (1883)*
Supreme Court
Civil rights
Racial equality; 13th amendment ; 14th amendment ; federalism
18
United States v. Kagama, 118 U.S. 375 (1886)
Supreme Court
Federalism
Indigenous sovereignty ; article I ; Commerce Clause ; federal jurisdiction
19
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896)
Supreme Court
Civil rights
Racial equality ; 13th amendment ; 14th amendment ; Equal Protection Clause ; segregation
20
United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898)
Supreme Court
fundamental principles of constitutional law
US citizenship ; 14th amendment ; jus soli ; jus sanguinis
21
Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, 187 U.S. 553 (1903)
Supreme Court
Federalism
Indigenous sovereignty ; Treaty rights ; Treaty law
22
Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905)*
Supreme Court
Fundamental rights
freedom of contract ; 14th amendment ; substantive due process ; Lochner Era
23
Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383 (1914)
Supreme Court
Fundamental rights
Unlawful search ; 4th amendment ; exclusionary rule
24
Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919)*
Supreme Court
Fundamental rights
Freedom of speech ; 1st amendment ; insurrection law
25
Missouri v. Holland, 252 U.S. 416 (1920)*
Supreme Court
Federalism
International agreement ; article VI ; supremacy clause ; fundamentality
26
Stromberg v. California, 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
Supreme Court
Fundamental rights
Freedom of speech ; 1st amendment ; symbolic speech
27
A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, 295 U.S. 495 (1935)*
Supreme Court
Separation of powers
Delegation of legislative power ; article I ; Commerce Clause ; Lochner Era ; New Deal
28
Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, 295 U.S. 602 (1935)*
Supreme Court
Separation of powers
Administrative agencies ; article I ; article II ; at-will employment
29
United States v. Butler, 297 U.S. 1 (1936)*
Supreme Court
Federalism
Congressional powers ; article I ; Taxing Clause
30
United States v. Curtiss- Wright Export Corp., 299 U.S. 304 (1936)*
Supreme Court
Separation of powers
POTUS ; article II ; international relations