Landmark decisions pertaining to individual rights
Discrimination based on race
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S.393 (1857) Blacks, whether free or slaves, cannot be U.S. citizens. Consequently, they cannot sue in federal courts. Also, slavery cannot be outlawed in the western territories before they access statehood. After the Civil War, this decision was voided by the subsequent Thirteenth and FourteenthAmendments.
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S.537 (1896) Segregated facilities for blacks and whites are constitutional under the doctrine of separate but equal, which held for close to 60 years.
Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S.214 (1944) American citizens of Japanese descent can be interned and deprived of basic constitutional rights; first application of the strict scrutiny test.
Brown v. Board of Education, 344 U.S.1 (1954), 344 U.S.141 (1952), 347 U.S.483 (1954), 349 U.S.294 (1955), segregated schools in the several states are unconstitutional in violation of the 14th Amendment. Found that "The "separate but equal" doctrine adopted in Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 , has no place in the field of public education."
Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena, 515 U.S.200 (1995) Race based discrimination, including discrimination in favor of minorities (affirmative action), is subject to strict judicial scrutiny.
Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S.306 (2003) A narrowly tailored use of race in student admission decisions may be permissible under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, as a diverse student body is beneficial for all students (as hinted in Regents v. Bakke).
Ricci v. DeStefano, 07 U.S.1428 (2009) Municipalities may not decline to certify the results of an otherwise fair exam merely because it would have made disproportionately more white applicants eligible for promotion.
Discrimination based on sex
Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S.677 (1973) Sex-based discriminations are inherently suspect. A statute giving benefits to the spouses of male, but not female members of the uniformed services (on the assumption that only the former were dependent) is unconstitutional.
Craig v. Boren, 429 U.S.190 (1976) Setting different minimum ages according to sex (female 18, male 21) to be allowed to buy beer is unconstitutional sex-based discrimination, contrary to the equal protection clause.
Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S.186 (1986) A state may declare the private practice in one's bedroom of certain sex acts to be a crime; this statute was later struck down by the Georgia State Supreme Court as a violation of the Georgia State Constitution in the case of Powell v. Georgia (actually Powell v. State). Overruled by Lawrence v. Texas.
Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S.620 (1996) A law cannot prohibit anti-discrimination protected class laws for sexual orientation (specifically for homosexuals and bisexuals in this instance) (decision founded on the Equal Protection Clause).
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S.479 (1965) Married people are entitled to use contraception and making it a crime to sell to them same is unconstitutional. (A later case, Eisenstadt v. Baird, extended this to unmarried adults.)
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S.113 (1973) Struck down abortion laws restricting abortion prior to viability as unconstitutional, prohibiting most restrictions in the first trimester and permitting only health-related restrictions in the second.
Planned Parenthood of Se. Pa. v. Casey, 505 U.S.833 (1992) Placed tighter restrictions on abortion by upholding parts of Pennsylvania's abortion laws. Also reaffirmed the decisions of Roe v. Wade but permitted additional restrictions in the first trimester.
Cruzan v. Dir., Mo. Dep't of Health, 497 U.S.261 (1990) Family having requested the termination of life-sustaining treatments of their vegetative relative, the state may constitutionally oppose this request, for lack of evidence of a clear earlier wish by said relative.
Katzenbach v. McClung, 379 U.S.294 (1964), 379 U.S.802 (1964) The power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce (Article I, section 8) extends to a restaurant not patronized by interstate travelers, but which serves food that has moved in interstate commerce. This ruling makes the Civil Rights Act of 1964 apply to virtually all businesses.
City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S.507 (1997). The enforcement clause of the 14th Amendment does not permit Congress to substantially increase the scope of the rights determined by the Judiciary. (here, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993), but can only enact legislation that remedies or prevents actual violations of existing Court-determined rights.
Katz v. United States, 389 U.S.347 (1967) Evidence obtained by wiretapping a public phonebooth without a warrant is not admissible in court, just as if a private phone line had been eavesdropped.
Georgia v. Randolph, 547 U.S.103 (2006) Police cannot conduct a warrantless search in a home where one occupant consents and the other objects.
Right to an attorney
Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S.335 (1963) Anyone charged with a serious criminal offense has the right to an attorney and the state must provide one if they are unable to afford legal counsel.
Miranda v. Arizona (and Westover v. United States, Vignera v. New York, and California v. Stewart) 384 U.S.436 (1966) Police must advise criminal suspects of their rights under the Constitution to remain silent, to consult with a lawyer and to have one appointed if he is an indigent. The interrogation must stop if the suspect states he or she wishes to remain silent.
Montejo v. Louisiana, 556 U.S.[1] (2009) A defendant may waive his right to counsel for police interrogation, even if police initiate the interrogation after the defendant's assertion of his right to counsel at an arraignment or similar proceeding. This decision overruled Michigan v. Jackson.
Other rights regarding counsel
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S.668 (1984) To obtain relief due to ineffective assistance of counsel, a criminal defendant must show that counsel's performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that counsel's deficient performance gives rise to a reasonable probability that, if counsel had performed adequately, the result of the proceeding would have been different.
Padilla v. Commonwealth of Kentucky253 U.S.482 (2010) Criminal defense attorneys are duty-bound to inform clients of the risk of deportation under three circumstances. First, where the law is unambiguous, attorneys must advise their criminal clients that deportation "will" result from a conviction. Second, where the immigration consequences of a conviction are unclear or uncertain, attorneys must advise that deportation "may" result. Finally, attorneys must give their clients some advice about deportation—counsel cannot remain silent about immigration consequences.
Godinez v. Moran, 509 U.S.389 (1993) A defendant competent to stand trial is automatically competent to plead guilty or waive the right to legal counsel.
Right to refuse treatment
Rogers v. Okin, 478 F.Supp. 1342 (D. Mass. 1979) The competency of committed patients is presumed until a patient is adjudicated incompetent.
Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S.153 (1976) Carefully drafted death penalty statutes may be constitutional. This ruling made executions possible again after Furman v. Georgia (see above) had stopped them.
Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S.242 (1976) Requirement of comparison of mitigating to aggravating factors to be used to impose death sentence is constitutional.
Kennedy v. Louisiana, 554 U.S.407 (2008) A sentence of death may not be imposed for the crime of rape, when the victim did not die and death was not intended.
Other criminal sentences
Graham v. Florida, _ U.S._ (2010) A sentence of life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole, may not be imposed on juvenile non-homicide offenders.
Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, 14 U.S.304 (1816) Federal courts may review State court decisions when they rest on federal law or the federal constitution. This decision provides for the uniform interpretation of federal law throughout the various states.
McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S.316 (1819). The court stated the doctrine of implied powers, from the Necessary and Proper Clause at Article I, section 8. To fulfill its goal, the federal government may use any means the constitution does not forbid (as opposed to only what the constitution explicitly allow or only what can be proved to be necessary). State government may in no way hinder the legitimate action of the federal government (here, Maryland cannot levy a tax on the Bank of the United States). The court has varied in time on the extents of the implied powers with a markedly narrower reading approximately from the 1840s to the 1930s).
Steward Machine Company v. Davis, 301 U.S.548 (1937) The federal government is permitted to impose a tax, even if the goal of the tax is not simply the collection of revenue (in this case, it was argued that a tax upon employers was designed to coerce states into adopting laws providing unemployment compensation).
Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S.111 (1942) The Commerce Clause of the constitution allows congress to regulate anything that has a substantial economic effect on commerce, even if that effect is indirect.
Cooper v. Aaron, 358 U.S.1 (1958) States are bound by the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and cannot choose to ignore them.
United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S.683 (1974) Ruled that the doctrine of executive privilege is legitimate, however the President cannot invoke it in criminal cases to withhold evidence.
South Dakota v. Dole, 483 U.S.203 (1987) It is permissible to withhold Federal highway funds to encourage states to meet a federal standard setting the minimum legal age for purchasing and possessing alcoholic beverages.
United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S.549 (1995) The Commerce Clause of the Constitution does not give Congress the power to prohibit mere possession of a gun near a school, because gun possession by itself is not an economic activity that affects interstate commerce even indirectly.
Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S.681 (1997) The President of the United States has no particular immunity, which could require civil law litigation against the President for a dispute unrelated to the office of President (e.g. having occurred before (s) he took office), to be stayed until the end of the President's term. Such delay would deprive plaintiffs, (and arguably the defendant), of the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial.
Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S.417 (1998) The line-item veto is unconstitutional on a federal level, as it amounts to a presidential amendment to the law without the pre-authorization of Congress. According to the Constitution, Congress must initiate all amendments to existing laws.
Printz v. United States, 521 U.S.898 (1997) Certain interim provisions of the Brady Act requiring state officials to execute a federal law (in doing background checks for gun ownership) are unconstitutional.
Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S.47 (1919) Established the idea that "clear and present danger" in certain speech is not protected by the First Amendment. Schenck's attempts to obstruct recruitment processes were perceived as a "clear and present danger that will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent".
New York Times v. Sullivan (and Abernathy v. Sullivan), 376 U.S.254 (1964) Public officials, to prove they were libelled, must show not only that a statement is false, but also that it has been published with malicious intent.
Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S.444 (1969) Mere advocacy of the use of force, or of violation of law (in this case, by a Ku Klux Klan leader) is protected by the 1st Amendment free speech clause. Only inciting others to take direct and immediate unlawful action would be without constitutional protection.
Cohen v. California, 403 U.S.15 (1971) One should not be convicted for wearing a jacket in a courtroom emblazoned with the phrase "Fuck the Draft" (in the Vietnam War context), as this is communication, protected by the free speech clause of the 1st Amendment. The word "fuck" itself, clearly not directed at the hearer, is not in this particular instance a fighting word, and so not without constitutional protection.
New York Times v. United States, 403 U.S.713 (1971) Government's desire to keep so-called "Pentagon Papers" classified is insufficient to overcome 1st Amendment hurdle.
Miller v. California, 413 U.S.15 (1973) To be obscene, a work must fail several tests to determine its value to society, essentially having "no redeeming social value" to be so declared.
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S.260 (1988)Public school curricular student newspapers that have not been established as forums for student expression are subject to a lower level of First Amendment protection than independent student expression or newspapers established (by policy or practice) as forums for student expression.
Reno v. ACLU, 520 U.S.1113 (1997) The Communications Decency Act, regulating certain content on the Internet, is so overbroad as to be an unconstitutional restraint on the 1st Amendment.
Erie v. Pap's A. M., 529 U.S.277 (2000) Upholding the 1991 ruling that nude dancing is not protected by the 1st Amendment.
Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S.602 (1971) For a law to be considered constitutional under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, the law must have a legitimate secular purpose, must not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion, and must not result in an excessive entanglement of government and religion.
Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S.205 (1972) Parents may remove children from public school for religious reasons.
Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S.577 (1992) Public schools inviting clergy to read prayer at an official ceremony (here a graduation ceremony) violates First Amendment non-establishment clause.
Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S.520 (1993) Government must show a compelling interest to draw a statute targeting a religion's ritual (as opposed to a statute that happens to burden the ritual, but is not directed at it). Failing to show such an interest, the prohibition of animal sacrifice is a violation of First Amendment free exercise clause.
Rosenberger v. University of Virginia, 515 U.S.819 (1995) University can not fund secular groups from student dues, then exclude religious ones that also qualify under the same funding scheme.
Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S.203 (1997) A government program sending government employees to parochial schools (and also, to other private schools) specifically to provide remedial education to disadvantaged children (and not to all children) does not violate the First Amendment non establishment clause.
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, 400 F. Supp. 2d 707 (M.D. Pa. 2005) Teaching intelligent design in public school biology classes violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because intelligent design is not science and "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents."
Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, 530 U.S.640 (2000) Private organizations' First Amendment right of expressive association allows them to choose their own membership and expel members based on their sexual orientation even if such discrimination would otherwise be prohibited by anti-discrimination legislation designed to protect minorities in public accommodations.
District of Columbia v. Heller(2008) Ruled that "The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home."
McDonald v. Chicago(2010) Ruled that The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self defense is fully applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.
Legality of targeted firearms prohibition
United States v. Miller(1933) Held that a sawed-off shotgun did not constitute a weapon suitable for militia use, and therefore verified the constitutional integrity of the National Firearms Act. Prior to Heller, Miller was the primary legislation covering the individual right to bear arms, and its more conservative interpretation of individual rights (in the context of the militia) was the primary jurisprudential basis for subsequent legislation outlawing specific weapon types. The National Assault Weapons Act of 1993, especially, was dependent on Miller, and the future of such legislation in the context of Heller is yet to be determined.
Landmark Decisions in Other Areas of U.S. Law
Fletcher v. Peck, 10 U.S.87 (1810) For the first time the Court struck down a State law as unconstitutional. A State legislature (in this case, Georgia) can repeal a previous, corruptly made law (in this case, a land grant), but not void valid contracts made under this law.
Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 17 U.S.518 (1819) extended contract rights to corporations and established the differences between public and private corporations .
Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S.186 (1962) The reapportionment of state legislative districts is not a political question, and is justiciable by the federal courts.
Menominee Tribe v. United States, 391 U.S.404 (1968) Native American treaty rights are not abrogated without a clear and unequivocal statement by Congress and that statutes and treaties are to be construed liberally in favor of the tribe.
Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S.319 (1976) Established test for deciding what process is due when procedural due process applies that balances (1) the government's interests, (2) the individual's interest, and (3) the likelihood of making an inaccurate decision using the existing procedures and probable value of additional procedural safeguards.