Reference Library

Held that former presidents have substantial immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts taken in office.

Held that race-conscious college admissions programs violate the Equal Protection Clause, effectively ending affirmative action in higher education.

Overturned Roe and Casey, holding the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion and returning the issue to the states.

Upheld a public school coach's right to pray on the field after games, narrowing the Lemon test's role.

Struck down restrictive concealed-carry permitting and required gun laws to be judged against historical tradition.

Held that federal employment discrimination law's ban on sex discrimination covers discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Long-term cell-site location data is protected by the Fourth Amendment; a warrant is required to obtain it from wireless carriers.

Ruled narrowly for a baker who refused to make a same-sex wedding cake, citing hostility in the state proceeding.

Upheld a presidential travel ban on nationals of several majority-Muslim countries, while formally repudiating Korematsu.

Struck down Texas abortion-clinic regulations as an undue burden lacking medical benefit.

Held that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage nationwide.

The power to formally recognize foreign nations and their territorial boundaries belongs exclusively to the President.

Held closely held for-profit corporations can claim religious exemptions from the ACA's contraceptive mandate.

Struck down aggregate limits on how much an individual can contribute across all federal candidates and committees.

Narrowed the President's Recess Appointments power: the Senate must be in a recess of at least ten days and vacancies need not first arise during that recess.

The Elections Clause preempts state attempts to add documentary-proof-of-citizenship requirements to the federal voter-registration form.

Struck down the Voting Rights Act's coverage formula, ending automatic federal preclearance for certain states.

Struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act's refusal to recognize same-sex marriages.

Upheld the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate as a valid tax while limiting Congress's Medicaid-expansion leverage over states.

Protected offensive protest speech on public issues, even at a soldier's funeral, from tort liability.

Held that corporate and union political spending is protected speech, barring bans on independent campaign expenditures.

Extended the individual right to bear arms to apply against state and local governments.

Held that Guantanamo detainees have a constitutional right to habeas corpus review in federal court.

Held for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep a handgun at home for self-defense.

Upheld a federal ban on the same procedure, signaling greater tolerance for abortion restrictions.

The Twenty-First Amendment does not authorize states to discriminate against out-of-state wineries in favor of in-state ones.

Upheld government's use of eminent domain to transfer property for private economic development.

Barred the execution of offenders who were under 18 at the time of their crime.

Strengthened the Confrontation Clause, restricting the use of out-of-court testimonial statements against defendants.

Held that U.S. citizens detained as enemy combatants have a due-process right to challenge their detention.

Struck down a point-based affirmative action system as insufficiently individualized.

Upheld narrowly tailored use of race in law school admissions to further diversity.

Struck down state sodomy laws, overruling Bowers and establishing constitutional protection for private, consensual intimate conduct.

Barred execution of individuals with intellectual disabilities as cruel and unusual punishment.

Held that any fact increasing a criminal penalty beyond the statutory maximum must be found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

Halted the Florida recount in the 2000 election, effectively deciding the presidency; widely debated for its reasoning and reach.

Struck down a state ban on 'partial-birth abortion' for lacking a health exception.

Struck down the line-item veto as an unconstitutional expansion of presidential power.

The Seventh Amendment guarantees a jury trial on statutory copyright damages, not just on the fact of infringement.

Anti-commandeering: the federal government cannot conscript state or local officials to enforce federal regulatory programs.

Struck down a Colorado amendment barring anti-discrimination protections for gay people.

Congress cannot use its Article I powers to abrogate state sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment.

The Export Clause bars federal taxes on goods in export transit, even indirect ones like insurance premiums.

Struck down the Virginia Military Institute's male-only admissions policy as unconstitutional sex discrimination.

First case in nearly sixty years to strike down a federal statute as exceeding Congress's Commerce Clause power.

Upheld automatic congressional cost-of-living adjustments against a Twenty-Seventh Amendment challenge.

Struck down a law targeting animal sacrifice as religious discrimination disguised as a neutral rule.

Impeachment trial procedures are a nonjusticiable political question committed to the Senate alone.

Established the modern three-part test for Article III standing: injury in fact, causation, and redressability.

Reaffirmed Roe's core holding while adopting the 'undue burden' standard for abortion restrictions.

Struck down a hate-speech ordinance as impermissible content-based discrimination.

Held that neutral, generally applicable laws burdening religion do not require an exemption, narrowing free-exercise protections.

Held that burning the American flag as protest is protected symbolic speech.

Federal courts may compel a governor to extradite a fugitive under the Extradition Clause, overruling Kentucky v. Dennison.

Congress may attach conditions to federal funds, so long as the conditions are related to the program's purpose and are not coercive.

Barred prosecutors from excluding jurors based on race through peremptory strikes.

Upheld state sodomy laws against a due-process challenge; later overruled by Lawrence v. Texas.

A state cannot categorically bar nonresidents from admission to its bar under the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV.

Struck down the legislative veto, reinforcing separation of powers between Congress and the executive.

The rare modern Third Amendment case: quartering National Guard members in state employees' housing during a strike stated a constitutional claim.

Held that states cannot deny free public education to children based on immigration status.

Allowed race as one factor in university admissions while banning rigid quotas, shaping affirmative-action law.

Upheld contribution limits but struck down spending limits as violating free speech, treating campaign money as protected expression.

Established 'intermediate scrutiny' as the standard for evaluating sex-based classifications.

Reinstated the death penalty under revised statutes with sentencing guidelines and procedural safeguards.

Held that executive privilege is not absolute, forcing release of the Watergate tapes and confirming no president is above judicial process.

Struck down unequal military benefits rules based on sex, pushing toward heightened scrutiny of sex classifications.

Recognized a constitutional right to abortion under the right to privacy; overturned by Dobbs (2022).

Extended the right to contraception to unmarried individuals.

Struck down existing death penalty schemes as arbitrarily applied, effectively suspending capital punishment nationwide.

The Speech or Debate Clause protects legislative acts and legislative aides, but not private republication of classified material.

Allowed Amish families to withdraw children from public school past a certain age on religious-liberty grounds.

Created the 'Lemon test' for evaluating Establishment Clause violations, long the dominant framework.

Rejected the government's attempt to block publication of classified Vietnam War documents, reinforcing the ban on prior restraint.

First case striking down a law for sex discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause.

Approved busing as a remedy to desegregate public schools.

Narrowed incitement doctrine, protecting speech unless it incites imminent lawless action.

The House cannot exclude a duly elected member who meets the Constitution's age, citizenship, and residency qualifications.

Held that students retain free speech rights at school, absent substantial disruption.

Incorporated the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial in serious criminal cases against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Allowed police to briefly stop and frisk individuals based on reasonable suspicion, short of probable cause.

Established that the Fourth Amendment protects people's 'reasonable expectation of privacy,' not just physical spaces.

Struck down state bans on interracial marriage as unconstitutional.

Struck down poll taxes in state elections as violating equal protection.

Required police to inform suspects of their rights before custodial interrogation.

Upheld the Voting Rights Act of 1965, including federal preclearance requirements.

Recognized a constitutional right to privacy, striking down a ban on contraceptives for married couples.

States cannot evade the Twenty-Fourth Amendment by forcing voters who decline to pay a poll tax to file a residency certificate instead.

Upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964's ban on discrimination in public accommodations under the Commerce Clause.

Required public officials to prove 'actual malice' to win defamation suits, providing broad breathing room for criticism of public figures.

Required state legislative districts to be roughly equal in population under 'one person, one vote.'

Barred school-sponsored Bible readings, reinforcing separation of church and state in public education.

Required states to provide free counsel to criminal defendants who cannot afford an attorney.

Held that legislative redistricting is subject to judicial review, opening the door to 'one person, one vote.'

Barred state-composed prayer in public schools as a violation of the Establishment Clause.

Applied the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule to the states, barring illegally obtained evidence from state trials.

State and federal governments may not require a belief in God as a qualification for public office.

Affirmed that state officials are bound by Supreme Court rulings, rejecting Arkansas's resistance to school desegregation.

Companion case to Brown, holding school segregation in Washington, D.C. violates due process under the Fifth Amendment.

Declared school segregation unconstitutional, overturning Plessy and launching the legal end of Jim Crow.

Held that the President could not seize steel mills without congressional authorization, checking executive power during wartime.

Applied the Establishment Clause to the states and articulated the 'wall of separation' between church and state.

Upheld the forced internment of Japanese Americans in WWII; discredited and effectively repudiated by Trump v. Hawaii (2018).

Gave Congress sweeping Commerce Clause power, upholding regulation of wheat grown for personal, non-commercial use.

Upheld regulation of sawed-off shotguns, tying Second Amendment protection to militia service.

Upheld federal economic regulation and, in its famous 'Footnote Four,' set the template for heightened judicial scrutiny of laws burdening fundamental rights or discrete minorities.

Upheld the National Labor Relations Act, affirming Congress's power to protect collective bargaining under the Commerce Clause.

Upheld a state minimum-wage law, effectively ending the Lochner era of aggressive review of economic legislation.

Upheld a Depression-era mortgage moratorium against a Contracts Clause challenge, endorsing state emergency police powers.

Upheld state price regulation, signaling growing deference to economic regulation.

Struck down prior restraints on the press, establishing strong protection against government censorship before publication.

Held that the First Amendment's free speech protections apply to the states via the 14th Amendment.

Upheld the validity of the Nineteenth Amendment against state-sovereignty challenges to women's suffrage.

Upheld convictions for anti-war leafleting; source of Justice Holmes's influential dissent on the 'marketplace of ideas.'

Upheld Espionage Act convictions, introducing the 'clear and present danger' test for restricting speech.

Upheld the federal income tax enacted after ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment.

The Origination Clause is satisfied so long as the House first passed a bill on the same general subject, even if the Senate rewrote it.

Upheld maximum-hour laws for women workers, a partial retreat from Lochner-era reasoning.

Upheld state authority to require smallpox vaccination as a valid exercise of the police power to protect public health.

Struck down a maximum-hours law as violating 'liberty of contract,' inaugurating an era of striking down economic regulation.

Held that a child born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents is a citizen by birth under the 14th Amendment.

Upheld racial segregation under 'separate but equal,' legitimizing Jim Crow until overturned by Brown v. Board.

The Compact Clause requires congressional consent only for interstate agreements that increase state political power at the expense of federal supremacy.

Upheld broad congressional power to exclude immigrants, establishing the 'plenary power' doctrine over immigration.

Struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875, holding the 14th Amendment does not reach private acts of discrimination.

Upheld a ban on polygamy, holding religious belief does not excuse violation of neutral criminal laws.

Narrowly interpreted the 14th Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause, limiting its power to protect civil rights against state action.

Held that Congress can strip the Supreme Court of appellate jurisdiction over specific cases.

Held that civilians cannot be tried by military tribunals where civilian courts are open, limiting executive war powers.

Held that state courts cannot interfere with federal law enforcement or issue writs of habeas corpus to release federal prisoners; a forceful reaffirmation of federal judicial supremacy on the eve of the Civil War.

Ruled that Black Americans could not be U.S. citizens and that Congress could not ban slavery in the territories; a catalyst toward the Civil War.

Gave Congress broad authority to regulate interstate commerce, striking down a conflicting state steamboat monopoly.

Upheld the national bank and federal supremacy, reading Congress's implied powers broadly under the Necessary and Proper Clause.

Confirmed the Supreme Court's authority to review state court decisions on federal questions.

Established judicial review — the Supreme Court's power to strike down federal laws that conflict with the Constitution.

Fixed the meaning of the Ex Post Facto Clauses: they bar retroactive criminal laws only, not civil ones.