69 articles
Texas v. White
Texas v. White, 74 U.S. 700 (1869), the Supreme Court decision by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase holding unilateral state secession unconstitutional in an 'indestructible Union,' arising from Civil War bond recovery, with exceptions for revolution or consent of the States.
Trump v. Hawaii
Trump v. Hawaii, 585 U.S. 667 (2018), the Supreme Court travel ban case upholding Proclamation 9645 under 8 U.S.C. §1182(f) by 5-4, also famous for declaring Korematsu 'gravely wrong' and overruled, a characterization scholars dispute as dicta.
United States free speech exceptions
United States free speech exceptions are Supreme Court-recognized categories outside First Amendment protection: obscenity, defamation, fraud, incitement, fighting words, true threats, speech integral to criminal conduct, and child sexual abuse material, plus less-protected commercial speech.
United States v. Lopez
United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995), Supreme Court case striking down the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 as beyond Congress's Commerce Clause power, 5-4, first such invalidation since 1936.
United States v. Nixon
United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974), the Nixon tapes case: unanimous Supreme Court ruling rejecting absolute executive privilege and ordering Watergate tapes produced for in camera review.
United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians
United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, 448 U.S. 371 (1980): Supreme Court holding that the 1877 congressional seizure of the Black Hills, abrogating the Fort Laramie Treaty, was a Fifth Amendment taking requiring just compensation with interest, which the Sioux refuse to accept.
United States v. The Amistad
United States v. The Amistad (40 U.S. 518, 1841): Supreme Court case from the 1839 revolt of kidnapped Africans on the Spanish schooner Amistad; Joseph Story's opinion freed the captives, who returned to Africa.
Wickard v. Filburn
Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111 (1942), Supreme Court case holding Congress may regulate home-consumed wheat under the Commerce Clause via the aggregation principle; unanimous opinion by Justice Jackson, later narrowed by Lopez but relied on in Raich.
Worcester v. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 (1832): Supreme Court case in which John Marshall held the Cherokee Nation a distinct sovereign community and Georgia's laws void on Cherokee land; Georgia and Andrew Jackson did not enforce it, preceding the Trail of Tears.