251 articles
Reynolds v. United States
Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145 (1879), the first Supreme Court Free Exercise Clause ruling, unanimously upheld George Reynolds's Mormon polygamy conviction, holding religious belief cannot excuse criminal conduct under generally applicable law.
Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination
Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination: Reagan's July 1, 1987 nomination of D.C. Circuit judge Robert Bork to replace Lewis Powell; rejected by the Senate 58-42 on October 23, 1987 after contentious hearings, with Anthony Kennedy eventually filling the seat.
Robert H. Jackson
Robert H. Jackson was an American Supreme Court justice from 1941 to 1954 who also served as Attorney General and chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials.
Roberts Court
The Roberts Court is the era of the US Supreme Court under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., beginning September 29, 2005, marked by a six-justice conservative majority, historically low rates of striking down state laws, frequent rulings against presidents, and major overrulings such as Dobbs.
Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), the US Supreme Court decision recognizing a Fourteenth Amendment right to abortion and creating the trimester framework; reframed by Casey's undue burden standard, overruled by Dobbs in June 2022.
Romer v. Evans
Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996): Supreme Court case striking down Colorado's Amendment 2, which barred local protection against sexual-orientation discrimination, under the Equal Protection Clause's rational basis review due to animus.
Roper v. Simmons
Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005): 5–4 Supreme Court decision abolishing the death penalty for offenders under 18 at the time of the crime, overturning Stanford v. Kentucky and grounding Graham, Miller, and Montgomery.
Rule of four
The rule of four is the Supreme Court's custom of granting a case a hearing when at least four of the nine justices vote to hear it.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) was an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1993–2020), the second woman appointed, and earlier the ACLU Women's Rights Project leader who won five landmark sex-discrimination cases.
Rutledge Court
The Rutledge Court (1795) is the brief chief justiceship of John Rutledge, Washington's recess appointee after John Jay. Rejected by the Senate 10-14 over his Jay Treaty speech, it was the shortest tenure and first rejected Supreme Court nomination.
Salmon P. Chase
Salmon P. Chase (1808–1873), Ohio antislavery lawyer, senator, and governor; Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury 1861–1864 who created the IRS, greenbacks, and national banking; sixth Chief Justice 1864–1873 who presided over Andrew Johnson's impeachment trial.
Samuel Alito
Samuel A. Alito, Jr. (born 1950, Trenton, NJ) is a U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice since 2006, nominated by George W. Bush; author of Dobbs (2022) overturning Roe v. Wade; a self-described practical originalist and consistent conservative voice.
Samuel Chase
Samuel Chase (1741–1811), Maryland lawyer, Declaration of Independence signer, and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1796–1811); the only justice ever impeached, acquitted by the Senate in 1805.
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor (1930-2023) was the first woman to serve as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1981-2006; confirmed 99-0, she was the decisive swing vote in cases on abortion, affirmative action, and Bush v. Gore.
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co.
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co., 118 U.S. 394 (1886): Supreme Court railroad fence tax case, famous for a Reporter's headnote asserting corporate personhood under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Schenck v. United States
Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919), a unanimous Supreme Court decision by Justice Holmes upholding Espionage Act convictions of Charles Schenck and Elizabeth Baer for anti-draft leaflets, which established the clear and present danger test later replaced by Brandenburg's imminent lawless action standard.
Scottsboro Boys
The Scottsboro Boys: nine Black teenagers falsely accused of raping two white women on an Alabama freight train in 1931; eight death sentences, Powell v. Alabama, Norris v. Alabama, recantations, paroles, and 2013 posthumous pardons.
Secretaries and administrative staff of the Supreme Court of the United States
The secretaries and administrative staff of the US Supreme Court are the career non-lawyer personnel who run the justices' chambers, including judicial assistants, messengers, and the Counselor to the Chief Justice.
Separate but equal
Separate but equal was the U.S. legal doctrine from Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) holding that racially segregated facilities satisfied the Fourteenth Amendment if equal; overturned by Brown v. Board of Education (1954).
Shadow docket
Shadow docket: informal name, coined by William Baude in 2015, for US Supreme Court unsigned orders and emergency rulings issued without full briefing, argument, or explanation, distinct from the merits docket.
Shelby County v. Holder
Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013): 5-4 Supreme Court decision striking down the Voting Rights Act's Section 4(b) coverage formula, ending Section 5 preclearance and leaving Section 2 litigation as the main enforcement path.
Shelley v. Kraemer
Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948), also styled with companion case McGhee v. Sipes: Supreme Court decision holding state courts cannot enforce racially restrictive real estate covenants because judicial enforcement is state action violating the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.
Shouting fire in a crowded theater
Shouting fire in a crowded theater: phrase from Holmes's 1919 Schenck v. United States dictum, originally "falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic"; its clear and present danger test was replaced by Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969).
Slaughter-House Cases
Slaughter-House Cases, 83 U.S. 36 (1873), also called the New Orleans slaughterhouse cases: 5-4 Supreme Court decision, the first reading of the Fourteenth Amendment, confining Privileges or Immunities to national citizenship and upholding Louisiana's Crescent City slaughterhouse monopoly.
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court since August 8, 2009, its first Hispanic justice; Bronx-born, Princeton and Yale Law, former SDNY and Second Circuit judge, known for pointed liberal dissents.
Stephen Breyer
Stephen Breyer (born 1938, San Francisco) is a retired U.S. Supreme Court associate justice (1994–2022), formerly First Circuit chief judge, known for pragmatist, purposivist constitutional interpretation and books including Active Liberty.
Supreme Court Historical Society
The Supreme Court Historical Society is a private nonprofit founded in 1974 to preserve the history of the US Supreme Court and educate the public about it.
Supreme Court Library and curatorial offices
The Supreme Court Library is the research library of the US Supreme Court, holding nearly 650,000 volumes, while the Office of the Curator manages the Court's art and archives.
Supreme Court nominations under Herbert Hoover
Supreme Court nominations under Herbert Hoover: four nominations, three seats, 1929-1933. Hughes confirmed 52-26 as Chief Justice; Parker rejected 39-41, the 20th century's first; Roberts confirmed without a vote; Cardozo unanimously.
Supreme Court nominations, 1866–1920
Supreme Court nominations from 1866 to 1920 cover Congress's 1866 seat reduction blocking Andrew Johnson, a quiet post-Reconstruction era, and the bitter 1916 confirmation of Louis D. Brandeis.