Engel v. Vitale

Marbury v. Madison

5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803)

Established the principle of judicial review, empowering federal courts to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional. Chief Justice John Marshall held that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and when a statute conflicts with it, the courts must give effect to the Constitution. This foundational decision made the judiciary a coequal branch of government.

McCulloch v. Maryland

17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316 (1819)

Upheld the constitutionality of the Second Bank of the United States under the Necessary and Proper Clause and held that states cannot tax federal institutions. Chief Justice Marshall established a broad interpretation of congressional power, declaring that the federal government possesses implied powers beyond those enumerated in the Constitution.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857)

Held that African Americans, whether free or enslaved, were not citizens of the United States and had no standing to sue in federal court. Chief Justice Taney also declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. Widely condemned as the worst Supreme Court decision in history, it inflamed sectional tensions and contributed to the onset of the Civil War. Effectively overruled by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Plessy v. Ferguson

163 U.S. 537 (1896)

Upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the 'separate but equal' doctrine. The Court ruled that Louisiana's law requiring separate railway cars for Black and white passengers did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment. Justice Harlan's lone dissent declared the Constitution 'color-blind.' Overruled by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

Lochner v. New York

198 U.S. 45 (1905)

Struck down a New York law limiting bakery workers to a 60-hour work week, holding it violated the Fourteenth Amendment's protection of liberty of contract. Inaugurated the 'Lochner era' of aggressive judicial review of economic regulations, which lasted until the late 1930s. Now widely criticized as judicial overreach.