Supreme Court Decisions: 20 Landmark Cases Summarized and Explained

by U.S. Department of State

The text of this Kindle edition, equivalent in length to a physical book of approximately 32 pages, originally appeared in the U.S. Department of State publication “Basic Readings in U.S. Democracy.” Learn about eighteen landmark Supreme Court cases, including Marbury v. Madison, Dred Scott v. Sandford, Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education, and University of California v. Bakke.CONTENTSMarbury v. Madison (1803)McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886)Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)Muller v. Oregon (1908)Abrams v. United States (1919)Whitney v. California (1927)Near v. Minnesota (1931)West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)Korematsu v. United States (1944)Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952)Brown v. Board of Education (1954)Cooper v. Aaron (1958)Engel v. Vitale (1962)Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)Reynolds v. Sims (1964)New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)United States v. Nixon (1974)Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)Sample is no question that the ruling in “Brown v. Board of Education,” which struck down racially enforced school segregation, is one of the most important in American history. No nation committed to democracy could hope to achieve those ideals while keeping people of color in a legally imposed position of inferiority. But the decision also raised a number of questions about the authority of the Court and whether this opinion represents a judicial activism that, despite its inherently moral and democratic ruling, is nonetheless an abuse of judicial authority.… But J. Harvie Wilkinson, who is now a federal circuit court judge, dismisses much of this criticism when he reminds us that “Brown” “was humane, among the most humane moments in all our history. It was…a great political achievement, both in its uniting of the Court and in the steady way it addressed the nation.” With this decision, the nation picked up where it had left the cause of equal protection more than eighty years earlier, and began its efforts to integrate fully the black minority into full partnership in the American polity.

27 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 11, 2012

About the author

The United States Department of State (DOS), often referred to as the State Department , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministry of other countries. The Department was created in 1789 and was the first executive department established.

The Department is headquartered in the Harry S Truman Building located at 2201 C Street, NW, a few blocks away from the White House in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The Department operates the diplomatic missions of the United States abroad and is responsible for implementing the foreign policy of the United States and U.S. diplomacy efforts. The Department is also the depositary for more than 200 multilateral treaties.

The Department is led by the Secretary of State, who is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate and is a member of the Cabinet. The current Secretary of State is John Kerry. The Secretary of State is the first Cabinet official in the order of precedence and in the presidential line of succession.

Reviews

[Martin R Lassman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

Everyone should read this book. It explains in a neutral way how our country is evolving over time. We clearly have not matured as a government but we continually change.

[james blanchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Landmark decisions worthy of consideration

The United States Supreme Court decisions listed herein are noteworthy of consideration even though they were decided many years ago.

[John Eddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great summary for the non legal

Exactly what I hoped for, short and concise, just enough for a cocktail party. Well worth the price and time.