Landmark Supreme Court decisions

Original case essays on constitutional power, equal treatment, criminal justice, and freedom of expression.

Based on the Supreme Court opinions published in United States Reports, preserved in the Library of Congress digital archive. These are historical readings of the named decisions, with separate editorial reflections; they are not a complete statement of current law.

• The Power to Say No
  Marbury v. Madison (1803)
  Judicial review · 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137
• A Constitution with Room to Work
  McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
  Federal power · 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316
• When Law Denies the Person
  Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
  Citizenship, slavery & constitutional failure · 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393
• The Fiction of Separate Equality
  Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
  Segregation & equal protection · 163 U.S. 537
• The Freedom Not to Join In
  West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)
  Conscience & compelled speech · 319 U.S. 624
• Power Needs a Source
  Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952)
  Presidential power & separation of powers · 343 U.S. 579
• The Inequality Built into the Door
  Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
  Racial equality & education · 347 U.S. 483
• The Rule That Reaches the Search
  Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
  Unlawful searches & criminal evidence · 367 U.S. 643
• When Democracy Needs a Courtroom
  Baker v. Carr (1962)
  Representation & justiciability · 369 U.S. 186
• The Chair Beside the Accused
  Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
  Criminal defence & fair process · 372 U.S. 335
• Room for the Imperfect Critic
  New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)
  Press freedom & defamation · 376 U.S. 254
• The Space Around a Marriage
  Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
  Marital privacy & constitutional liberty · 381 U.S. 479
• Before the First Answer
  Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
  Self-incrimination & interrogation · 384 U.S. 436
• When Equal Punishment Is Not Equality
  Loving v. Virginia (1967)
  Marriage & racial discrimination · 388 U.S. 1
• The Distance Between Advocacy and Harm
  Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)
  Incitement & freedom of speech · 395 U.S. 444
• The Discomfort of a Black Armband
  Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)
  Student expression · 393 U.S. 503
• The Burden Before Publication
  New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)
  Prior restraint & press freedom · 403 U.S. 713
• The Office and the Evidence
  United States v. Nixon (1974)
  Executive privilege & accountability · 418 U.S. 683
• The Flag and the Freedom It Represents
  Texas v. Johnson (1989)
  Symbolic expression & dissent · 491 U.S. 397

Reading the archive

Each essay links to the official report scan and identifies the printed pages supporting the discussion. A PDF may also contain the reporter’s summary, arguments, separate opinions, or text from an adjoining case. Printed U.S. Reports page numbers differ from PDF page numbers.

The account of the ruling is distinguished from the section headed “Why it is worth thinking about,” which offers this site’s commentary. These U.S. constitutional decisions do not state the law of England and Wales.

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