Landmark Cases · 1803–1954
The decisions that gave the Constitution its meaning.
The Supreme Court gives the Constitution its working meaning. These decisions, for better and for worse, reshaped American law and life.
Marbury v. Madison
1803 · Established judicial review.
McCulloch v. Maryland
1819 · Implied powers and federal supremacy.
Dred Scott v. Sandford
1857 · Denied citizenship to Black Americans.
Plessy v. Ferguson
1896 · Upheld “separate but equal.”
Brown v. Board of Education
1954 · Struck down school segregation.