Marbury v.
Madison (1803)
This case remains one of the most studied Supreme Court
cases in the American history. It labels a border line between the judicial and
the executive branches. President John Adams appointed William Marbury as
Justice of the Peace at the end of his presidential term. The Secretary of
State failed to send the documents. When Thomas Jefferson became president, he
asked his Secretary of State, James Madison not to deliver the commission.
McCulloch
v. Maryland (1819)
This case proves once again that control remains in the
United States’ hands and not in the individual states’. When the Congress
created the Second Bank of the US, Maryland wanted stop bank’s operations by
taxing it. Further to this case, Congress was granted the power to pass laws on
interstate commerce and collect tax under the Necessary and Proper clause of
the Constitution.
Roe v. Wade
(1973)
Jane Roe sued Henry Wade, the District Attorney of Dallas to
the Supreme Court in 1973. She attempts to challenge the constitutionality of
the Texas criminal abortion laws. The Court gives women rights to have an
abortion if her life is in danger. However, the case also stated the right of
states to regulate abortions.
Brown v.
Board of Education (1954)
Almost all schools were segregated by race in the 1950s.
Oliver Brown of Topeka in Kansas believed it to be in violation of his 14th
Amendment right to Equal Protection. In Topeka, Kansas, Oliver Brown and her
Linda Brown with other black students were forbidden access to nearby
segregated white schools. He brought the case to the Supreme Court that took
his side and declared school segregation as unconstitutional.
Gideon v.
Wainwright (1961)
After being spotted near a burglary case in 1961, Clarence
Earl Gideon was arrested in Florida and was forced to defend himself because he
could not afford a lawyer. The judge refused to appoint one to defend him even
if he asked for. The 6th Amendment required courts to assign a legal
representative to a defendant who cannot afford one.
Miranda v.
Arizona (1966)
Miranda rights are well-known among police officers. The
Supreme Court decision gave any individual the right against self-incrimination
and the right to a lawyer to be appointed if he could not afford one.
Gibbons v.
Ogden (1824)
This case sided in favor of Thomas Gibbons who sued Aaron
Ogden of monopolizing New York’s waterways as granted to its company by state
law. The Supreme Court decided that the federal commerce clause took precedence
over the state law.
Dred Scott
v. Sandford (1857)
The Court decision for this law case is a landmark in the
fight for equality and abolition of slavery. Being a slave purchased in
Missouri, Dred Scott’s owners moved to Illinois and Wisconsin, both free
states. His owners returned to Missouri and Scott claimed his right to be free.
The court ruled that slaves were not citizens and were simple private
properties.
Plessy v.
Ferguson (1896)
The Separate Car Act compelled all rail companies in
Louisiana to provide separate accommodations for white and black passengers.
Homer Plessy entered a car for white people and was arrested and jailed.
Unfortunately, the Court decided against him.
K. M.
Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra (1959)
Receiving and unprecedented media coverage, this law case
remains one of the most historical dealing with bench trial and jury trial. The
naval commander, Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati was accused of the murder his wife’s
lover, Prem Ahuja. He was declared guilty by jury but Bombay High Court
recalled the case as a bench trial.
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