1. Marbury V.

MadisonDate: 1803 Constitutional Issue: Madison, Secretary of State under Thomas Jefferson, refused to deliver an appointment letter signed by Adams to Marbury; Marbury demanded the court force Madison to release the letter Courts decision: (Marshall) Court ruled that Marbury was entitled to his commission, but that according to the Constitution, the Court did not have the authority to require Madison to deliver the commission to Marbury in this case Pol/Soc/Econ effects: established Judicial Review and made the judiciary an equal branch in every way with the legislative and the executive Area of Impact: Federalism 2. McCulloh V. MarylandDate: 1819 Constitutional Issue: the federal government was becoming too powerful; the Constitution does not give congress the power to create a national bank; Maryland had the power to tax any business in its state Courts decision: (Marshall) Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of McCulloch and against the state of Maryland Pol/Soc/Econ effects: Congress has the authority to pass any law that is necessary and proper to exercise its power as specified in the Constitution; States are subject to the power of the federal government; national bank controls the countrys currency by preventing inflation and regulating money supply Area of Impact: State taxes, National Supremacy 3. Fletcher V. PeckDate: 1810 Constitutional Issue: Is a law that negates all property rights established under an earlier law unconstitutional? Courts decision: (Marshall) Court ruled that ,yes, a law that negates all property rights established under an earlier law is unconstitutional for violating the Contract Clause (Article I, Section 10) of the United States Constitution; 1796 law was an unconstitutional ex post facto law that sought to penalize bona fide purchasers for wrongs committed by those from whom they were purchasing Pol/Soc/Econ effects: first Supreme Court ruling to strike down a state law; the ruling established a protective attitude to commercial interests (businesses) by the courts; Court recognized the Contract Clause as a key tool to limit state regulation of economic matters involving contracts and property rights; Federal protection of property rights, often using the Contract Clause, led to overturning numerous state laws through the next century;

importance of contracts in American life was established; the ruling also established that grants, such as state land grants, are the same under the law as contracts between private individuals; reassured the public about purchasing lands as they became available as the United States expanded westward. Area of Impact: States rights; Ex-post facto laws 4. Dartmouth College V. WoodwardDate: 1819 Constitutional Issue: New Hampshire had attempted to take over Dartmouth College by revising its colonial charter. Under the Constitution, can a state legislature change the charter of a college? Courts decision: (Marshall) the Court ruled that the charter was protected under the contract clause of the U. S. Constitution Pol/Soc/Econ effects: greatly encouraged business investment and growth; attract investors, employ workers, and to add to the national prosperity because states cant impair charters Area of Impact: Contract Clause, Limitations on the Powers of the States 5. Gibbons V. Ogden Date: 1824 Constitutional Issue: Can states pass laws that challenge the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce? Courts decision: (Marshall) The Court held that it is the role of the federal government to regulate commerce and that state governments cannot develop their own commerceregulating laws Pol/Soc/Econ effects: gives the federal government a much-broader base to regulate economic transactions; Court created a wide definition for commerce, reasoning that the term encompassed more than just selling and buying; regulating water navigation was in fact an act that regulated commerce Area of Impact: State Rights, Commerce Clause 6. Charles River Bridge V. Warren BridgeDate: 1837 Constitutional Issue: Did the legislature enter into an economic contract with the Charles River Bridge Company that was impaired by the second charter in violation of Article I Section 10 of the Constitution? Courts decision: (Taney) the Court held that the state had not entered a contract that prohibited the construction of another bridge on the river at a later date Pol/Soc/Econ effects: interests of the community are more important than the interests of business; the supremacy of societys interest over private interest

Area of Impact: Contract Clause 7. Cherokee Nation V. GeorgiaDate: 1831 Constitutional Issue: Does the Georgia have the constitutional right to remove the Cherokee from its lands? Courts decision: (Marshall) the Court ruled in favor of Georgia by finding that the Supreme Court had no legal authority to hear the dispute because Indian tribes are "domestic dependent nations," not foreign nations. Pol/Soc/Econ effects: Court left the Cherokees at the mercy of the state of Georgia and its land-hungry citizens; late 1838, the Cherokee were forcefully marched under winter conditions from their homes in northwest Georgia to lands set aside in Oklahoma; four thousand died in military detention camps and along the infamous "Trail of Tears Area of Impact: U.S. policy toward Native Americans; States Rights 8. Worchester V. GeorgiaDate: 1832 Constitutional Issue: Does the state of Georgia have the authority to regulate the intercourse between citizens of its state and members of the Cherokee Nation? Courts decision: (Marshall) the Court held that the Georgia act, under which Worcester was prosecuted, violated the Constitution, treaties, and laws of the United States Pol/Soc/Econ effects: Established tribal autonomy within Cherokee boundaries Area of Impact: U.S. policy toward Native Americans; States Rights 9. United States V. ReynoldsDate: 1878 Constitutional Issue: Does religious duty defend a criminal indictment? Courts decision: (Waite) the court held that religious duty was not a defense to a criminal indictment Pol/Soc/Econ effects: polygamy ruled unconstitutional; restriction of Mormon faith, which is against First Amendment right to freedom of religion (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) Area of Impact: Morill Anti-bigamy Act, First Amendment Rights 10. Munn V. IllinoisDate: 1876 Constitutional Issue: Whether the regulation of railroad rates by the state of Illinois deprived the railroad companies of property without due process of law. Courts decision: (Waite) the states may regulate the use of private property "when such regulation becomes necessary for the public good; upheld Granger Laws

Pol/Soc/Econ effects: States could regulate certain businesses involved in facilitating the public interest; substantive due process",citizens are found to have "fundamental rights", including freedom of contract and property rights, which mitigate against state interference for less than overwhelming public need Area of Impact: States Rights, due process 11. Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific RR Co. V. Illinois Date: 1886 Constitutional Issue: Whether a state government has the power to regulate railroad prices on that portion of an interstate journey that lies within its borders. Courts Decision: Supreme Court of the United States held the Illinois statute to be invalid and that the power to regulate interstate railroad rates is a federal power which belongs exclusively to Congress and, therefore, cannot be exercised by individual states Pol/Soc/Econ effects: Led to the creation of Interstate Commerce Commission, which had the power to regulate interstate commerce; state-passed Granger laws that regulated interstate commerce unconstitutional. Area of Impact: Individual Property Rights v. State Rights/Commerce Clause\ 12. United States V. E.C. Knight Co.Date: 1895 Constitutional Issue: Whether Congress has the authority to regulate manufacturing; and whether the Sherman Anti-Trust Act outlawed manufacturing monopolies Courts Decision: the Court held that the federal government could not regulate refineries since they were manufacturing operations that were not directly related to interstate commerce; the states, under the Tenth Amendment, should have the right reserved to them to regulate local activities, such as manufacturing Pol/Soc/Econ effects: Due to a narrow interpretation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the Court undermined the authority of the federal government to act against monopolies; continuation of monopolies and decline in small businesses Area of Impact: Anti-Trust Acts/Congressional Power v. Free Enterprise

13. United States V. Northern SecuritiesDate: 1904 (President Theodore Roosevelts trust busting campaign) Constitutional Issue: Whether the United States Congress had the authority under the Commerce Clause in the Constitution of the United States to regulate the holding companys effort to eliminate competition Courts Decision: the Court found that a holding company formed solely to eliminate competition between the two railroads was in violation of the Federal Anti-Trust Act because it unreasonably restrained interstate and international commerce, the Federal

Anti-Trust Act could apply to any conspiracy which sought to eliminate competition between otherwise competitive railroads. Pol/Soc/Econ effects: Re-established the authority of the federal government to fight monopolies under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act; decrease in monopolies Area of Impact: Restraints of Trade/Federal Anti-Trust/Commerce Clause 14. Plessy V. FergusonDate: 1896 Constitutional Issue: Whether laws which provided for the separation of races violated the rights of blacks as guaranteed by the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment Courts Decision: the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Louisiana Act of 1890, which stated that all railway companies were to provide equal but separate accommodations for white and black races did not violate the Constitution, did not take away from the federal authority to regulate interstate commerce, did not violate the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, and the law did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment, which gave all blacks citizenship, and forbade states from passing any laws which would deprive blacks of their constitutional rights Pol/Soc/Econ effects: Legalized segregation in publicly owned facilities on the basis of "separate but equal."; maintained social prejudices against African Americans; led to the establishment of Jim Crow Laws in the South, which restricted African American participation in politics, the economy, and social functions Area of Impact: "Separate but Equal," Equal Protection V. State Rights