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Gibbons v. Ogden (State Rights, Commerce Clause)
Gibbons v. Ogden, was a landmark decision in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the power to regulate interstate commerce, encompassed the power to regulate navigation. -
Fingerprinting Technology
Fingerprinting is first used in the United States by law enforcement. -
William Henry Moody Confirmed as Associate Justice
William Henry Moody, appointed by President Roosevelt, was confirmed as an associate justice. -
Ex Parte Young
In response to a lawsuit from shareholders of railroad companies challenging the constitutionality of a Minnesota law lowering railroad rates, a federal court issued an injunction against the law’s enforcement. -
Ninth Chief Supreme Court Justice Appointed
Edward Douglass White is appointed by William Howard Taft as the ninth Chief Supreme Court Justice. -
District Courts
Congress voted to abolish the US circuit courts. They then transferred their jurisdiction to district courts. -
Weeks v. United States
Decided that the warrant-less seizure of items from a private residence constitutes a violation of the Fourth Amendment and that local officers can not secure evidence by means prohibited under the federal exclusionary rule. -
Silverthorne Lumber Co.
Determined that since illegally seized evidence cannot be used in a trial, neither can evidence that derives from an illegal seizure. -
Tenth Chief Supreme Court Justice Appointed
William Howard Taft appointed as the tenth Chief Supreme Court Justice by Warren G. Harding. -
First Execution by Gas Chamber
The first execution by gas chamber was carried out in Carson City Nevada. -
Judges' Bill
Congress agreed to give the Court greater authority in determining which cases it hears, primarily in cases involving constitutional principles. -
Carroll v. United States
Upheld the warrant-less searches of an automobile. -
Gitlow v. New York
After handing out literature advocating the establishment of socialism in the United States, Benjamin Gitlow was convicted of violating a New York law criminalizing the advocacy of overthrowing the government. -
Ex Parte Bakelite Corporation
The Bakelite case involved a petition to bar the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals from hearing an appeal from a decision of the Tariff Commission because the matter was not a case or controversy within the meaning of Article III of the U.S. Constitution, and was therefore non-judicial. -
Eleventh Chief Supreme Court Justice Appointed
Charles Even Hughes is appointed as the eleventh Chief Supreme Court Justice, appointed by Herbert Hoover -
Crowell v. Benson
Since the beginning of the New Deal era, regulations promulgated by administrative agencies have formed an ever increasing part of American law. In addition, some agencies have been authorized to adjudicate disputes involving private parties. -
Powell v. Alabama
Established that due process requires appointment of attorney at government's expense for indigent defendants facing capital charges. -
Williams v. United States
The Supreme Court heard a challenge by a judge of the Court of Claims to a reduction in his salary. In 1953, Congress declared the Court of Claims to have been established under Article III, thereby giving its judges tenure during good behavior and protection against having their salaries diminished. -
FDR's "Court-Packing" Plan
After winning the 1936 presidential election in a landslide, Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed a bill to expand the membership of the Supreme Court. The law would have added one justice to the Court for each justice over the age of 70, with a maximum of six additional justices. -
Erie Railroad Company v. Tompkins
In the 1938 case of Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, the Supreme Court overruled Swift and held that when considering state legal issues, federal courts were bound to apply the common law of the states in which they sat. -
United States v. Carolene Products Company
The Supreme Court upheld a federal law banning the interstate shipment of “filled milk,” or milk to which skimmed milk and vegetable oil had been added, holding that the law was within the power delegated to Congress by the Commerce Clause. -
Johnson v. Zerbst
Decided that the right to an attorney provided by the federal government is applicable to all federal felony cases. -
The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice
The Civil Rights Division is created, first called the Civil Liberties Section, created to handle injustices in relation to Civil Rights, and discriminatory crimes. -
Railroad Commission of Texas v. Pullman Company
This case established what is often called the "Pullman abstention" doctrine, under which a federal court may decline to hear a constitutional claim involving a state law. -
Twelveth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Appointed
Harlan F. Stone is appointed as the twelveth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. -
War Fraud Unit is Created
The War Fraud Unit is created, to stop all fraud against the government during times of war. -
Emergency Court of Appeals
Congress created the Emergency Court of Appeals as part of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, designed to stabilize prices and prohibit profiteering during World War II. -
Betts v. Brady
Denied counsel to indigent defendants when prosecuted by a state. -
First Female Attorney
Beatrice Rosenberg becomes the first female attorney in the Criminal Justice Department, in the court of palettes -
Thirteenth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Appointed
Fred M. Vinson is appointed as the thirteenth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, by President Harry S. Truman -
Zorach v. Clauson (Church and State)
This was a case that was argued for half of the kids to leave part of the day for religious instruction. They had to have parents consent but most parents didn't like this so they started to sue the school for this and eventually they did not allow this anymore. -
Fourteenth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Appointed
Earl Warren appointed as the Fourteenth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. -
Hawaii and Alaska end Capital Punishment
After much pressure to end the death penalty after England and Canada ended their death penalty. -
Cooper v. Aaron
State officials in Arkansas resisted the Supreme Court’s mandate, issued in Brown v. Board of Education and Brown II, to end the racial segregation of public schools. -
Delaware Restores Death Penalty
After pressure from both sides of the death penalty, Delaware was pressured to restore the death penalty. -
Monroe v. Pape
James Monroe sued the city of Chicago and two individual police officers for violating his civil rights after they entered and searched his home without a warrant and arrested and interrogated him without permitting him access to an attorney. -
Mapp v. Ohio
In Mapp v. Ohio, the Court made a similar holding regarding the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable search and seizure, ruling that evidence obtained through an illegal search could not be admitted into evidence in a state court and thereby applying the exclusionary rule to the states for the first time. -
Gideon v. Wainwright (Right to Counsel, due process)
When Gideon was young he was charged with a felony and had to go to court, he was to poor to afford his own attorney, the judge declined to appoint counsel for him, so he had to represent himself in court. After this he filed a handwritten petition to the Supreme Court of the United States because of that. Now the courts made it a law that if you are to poor to afford an attorney they will provide you with one -
New York Times v. Sullivan
Public officials must show that what was said against them was malice. -
Oregon Abolish the Death Penalty
After pressure from both side of the death penalty Oregon abolish capital punishment. -
Four States Abolish Capital Punishment
New York, Iowa, West Virginia, and Vermont abolish the death penalty. -
Miranda v. Arizona (Self Incrimination, Due Process)
Miranda was accused of doing bad crimes and he plead guilty to it, but the police didn't tell him his fifth and sixth amendment protection, so this was taken to the supreme court and now the police had to determine the role in which they to reading you your rights. -
Federal Judicial Center
Congress establishes a Federal Judicial Center to help justices better manage their growing caseload. The Center will conduct judicial research and organize educational programs for judges and court personnel. -
Terry v. Ohio
States that stop and frisk do not violate the Constitution in some circumstances. -
U.S. Magistrates
In 1968, Congress created the position of U.S. magistrate, later renamed U.S. magistrate judge, to replace the former U.S. commissioners.Magistrates were also permitted, with the consent of the accused, to try defendants accused of minor offenses, with their rulings appeal able to the district court. -
Tinker v. Des Moines (Freedom of Speech)
This was a bunch of kids in a school play showing their support for a truce in the Vietnam War. During the play they wore black armbands with peace symbols on them. Later the school decided if you are caught wearing an armband you'd be suspend if you refused to take it off. Parents tried to sue the schools for this but didn't succeed, so after that there were no more armbands -
Fifteenth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Appointed
Warren E. Burger is appointed as the 15th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by President Richard Nixon -
Roe v. Wade
It was decided simultaneously with a companion case, Doe v. Bolton. That a right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman's decision to have an abortion, but that this right must be balanced against the state's two legitimate interests in regulating abortions: protecting women's health and protecting the potentiality of human life. -
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act included among its provisions a court made up of seven U.S. district court judges, assigned by the Chief Justice of the United States, to review applications for warrants related to national security investigations. -
U.S. Bankruptcy Courts
The Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, which constituted the first major revision of the federal bankruptcy laws since 1898, established a U.S. bankruptcy court in each judicial district. -
U.S. Court of International Trade
In 1980, Congress reorganized the U.S. Customs Court as the U.S. Court of International Trade, a court established under Article III of the Constitution with nine authorized judges. -
US Court of Appeals
To relieve growing pressure on the Supreme Court, Congress established a national court of appeals defined by its jurisdiction rather than by geography. This US Court of Appeals will screen appeal petitions and decide cases before they reach the Supreme Court. -
Sixteenth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Appointed
William Rehnquist is appointed as the sixteenth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court appointed by President Ronald Reagan -
Dahmer
Dahmer, a serial killer, was plainly insane under almost any definition of the word- except the legal definition. In order to be found not guilty by mental disease or defect the defendant must prove by clear, satisfactory, and convincing evidence that he suffered from some serious mental disease or defect that caused him to be unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his behavior. -
Seventeenth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Appointed
John Roberts is appointed as the 17th President of the Supreme Court by President George W. Bush
