Supreme Court Decisions

Landmark rulings of the Supreme Court that defined constitutional rights, federal power, and the limits of American democracy.

Brown v. Board of Education

The 1954 Supreme Court ruling that declared school segregation unconstitutional

Dred Scott v. Sandford

The 1857 Supreme Court ruling that declared Black Americans had no constitutional rights

Gibbons v. Ogden

The 1824 ruling that gave Congress the power to regulate the national economy

Gideon v. Wainwright

The unanimous 1963 ruling that guaranteed the right to counsel for every criminal defendant

Korematsu v. United States

The 1944 ruling that upheld Japanese American internment — and was later repudiated

Loving v. Virginia

The 1967 ruling that struck down bans on interracial marriage

Marbury v. Madison

The 1803 ruling that established the Supreme Court's power to strike down laws

McCulloch v. Maryland

The 1819 ruling that established the doctrine of implied federal powers

Miranda v. Arizona

The 1966 ruling that gave every suspect the right to silence

Obergefell v. Hodges

The 2015 Supreme Court decision that established the constitutional right to same-sex marriage

Plessy v. Ferguson

The 1896 Supreme Court ruling that made "separate but equal" the law of the land

Roe v. Wade

The 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion a constitutional right — and its 2022 reversal

United States v. Nixon

The unanimous 1974 ruling that forced the White House tapes and ended a presidency