New York Times v. Sullivan , 376 U.S. 254 (decided March 9, 1964): The foundation of current law on freedom of speech in the media. A public figure can’t sue for libel unless “actual malice”, i.e., knowledge of falsity.  Here, an ad in the New York Times from civil rights leaders protesting police brutality provoked Alabama official Sullivan (who was referred to only obliquely) to sue for libel.  $500,000 verdict vacated. INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca , 480 U.S. 421 (decided March 9

Griggs v. Duke Power Co. , 401 U.S. 424 (decided March 8, 1971): the first case holding that facially neutral policies which had a “disparate impact” were racially discriminatory under Civil Rights Act of 1964 (here, requiring intelligence tests which those with high school diplomas were far more likely to pass, where whites were more likely to be high school graduates and tests were not related to job ability) Choctaw Nation of Indians v. United States , 318 U.S. 423 (decide

Briscoe v. LaHue , 460 U.S. 325 (decided March 7, 1983): testimony in court is not “acting under color of law” so no §1983 liability for police officers whose perjury resulted in plaintiffs’ conviction Baldwin v. Franks , 120 U.S. 678 (decided March 7, 1887): federal statute, not treaty with China guaranteeing safety of Chinese nationals, governed charges of beating and driving out of Chinese nationals from town of Nicolaus, California, and outside reach of Congress because i

Dred Scott v. Sandford , 60 U.S. 393 (decided March 6, 1857): once-free slave had no claim to freedom in slave state because he was black (probably history’s most-abrogated case, by the Civil War, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, and more) (Chief Justice Taney for some reason did not like the “hands-off” affirmance on procedural grounds drafted by Nelson and took quill in hand to write a sweeping holding that he imagined would settle the slavery issue once

Nebbia v. New York , 291 U.S. 502 (decided March 5, 1934): a pre-“switch” case where Roberts, writing the opinion, sides against the “Four Horsemen”, upholding the New York Milk Board’s setting of maximum and minimum prices, being that milk prices were important to public welfare, no violation of Due Process (maybe OT, but look up the bio of Bronx native Jimmy Savo, a mime popular with Italian Americans of my grandparents’ generation; his family was too poor to afford Grade B

United States v. Tsarnaev , 595 U.S. 302 (decided March 4, 2022): upholding conviction of 2013 Boston Marathon bomber; trial judge had discretion at jury selection to ask only general questions about media exposure, and to exclude at sentencing mention of brother’s triple homicide to show that defendant was not the ringleader of bombing (as of this writing, still appealing other issues, see 96 F.4 th 441) (opportunities for agreement with Tsarnaev are limited, but he was rig

Schenck v. United States , 249 U.S. 47 (decided March 3, 1919): upholding Espionage Act conviction; mailing young men leaflets encouraging them to protest the draft (during World War I) was “clear and present danger” (famous for Holmes’s comment, “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic”) The Ku-Klux Cases , 110 U.S. 651 (decided March 3, 1884): upholding conviction of men who beat up black

Gibbons v. Ogden , 22 U.S. 1 (decided March 2, 1824): power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce also includes navigation (this holding became huge as technology advanced; it later was applied to trains, automobiles, radio, etc. -- to my mind the 19th century, more than the 20th or any other century, was the most transformative -- trains, cars, electricity, flight) Snyder v. Phelps , 562 U.S. 443 (decided March 2, 2011): odious acts of Westboro Baptist Church (holding

Strauder v. West Virginia , 100 U.S. 303 (decided March 1, 1880): Fourteenth Amendment violated by state statute restricting jury duty to whites; the Court’s dictum as to some restrictions being permissible was overruled by Taylor v. Louisiana , 1975, insofar as restricting it to males Swint v. Chambers Co. Comm’n , 514 U.S. 35 (decided March 1, 1995): The Court here takes on the persistent issue of discretionary “pendent appellate jurisdiction”, i.e., appealing a normally no

Johnson v. M’Intosh , 21 U.S. 543 (decided February 28, 1823): Why do law professors like to play with the heads of 1L’s?  In Property Law, instead of starting the course with some simple cases illustrating basic principles, they confuse new law students with this mishmash involving purchase of land from an Indian tribe, the granting of a federal land patent to someone else, the “doctrine of discovery”, “aboriginal title” . . . and almost all the opinion is dicta where they’r

Washington v. Harper , 494 U.S. 210 (decided February 27, 1990): mentally ill prisoner could be treated with psychotropic drugs against his will; finding that he was danger to himself and others by panel of correction officials and medical professionals was adequate due process Madison v. Alabama , 586 U.S. 265 (decided February 27, 2019): Eighth Amendment prohibits executing prisoner who no longer knows why he is being executed; here, Court remands for finding as to whether

Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee v. Sulyma , 589 U.S. 178 (decided February 26, 2020): 3-year statute of limitations for ERISA suit begins when plaintiff actually knew employer had improperly invested funds, not when it can be deduced from those annual reports nobody reads United States v. Apel , 571 U.S. 359 (decided February 26, 2014): commandant’s order barring protester from Vandenberg Air Force Base applied to whole property, including publicly accessible area res

North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC , 574 U.S. 494 (decided February 25, 2015): upholding FTC ruling that North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners committed antitrust violation by prohibiting non-dentists from providing teeth whitening services (State action is immune from antitrust liability, Parker v. Brown , 1943, but Board was not a governmental entity nor was under State supervision) Yates v. United States , 574 U.S. 528 (decided February 25, 2015): Yat

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District , 393 U.S. 503 (decided February 24, 1969): being in school does not suspend student’s First Amendment rights (students were told to remove black armbands protesting Vietnam War); that year I was the only student in my conservative public school displaying a peace symbol (I drew it in big markers on my loose-leaf) so this decision meant a lot to me Hustler Magazine v. Falwell , 485 U.S. 46 (decided February 24, 1988):

Johnson v. California , 543 U.S. 499 (decided February 23, 2005): unwritten state policy of segregating new double-celled prisoners by race must be examined under “strict scrutiny” (case then settled; prisons are taking a go-slow approach to in-cell integration, I think understandably) Illinois v. Fisher , 540 U.S. 544 (decided February 23, 2004): prosecution for cocaine possession can proceed despite police disposal of cocaine seized; defendant had been on the lam for 10 yea

Joshua DeShaney v. Winnebago County , 489 U.S. 189 (decided February 22, 1989): Due Process protection does not apply to actions of private actors and state has no duty to provide for citizen’s safety absent a “special relationship” such as when he is in custody (here, child injured by father’s abuse even after state welfare officials repeatedly told of abusive incidents but made no attempt to remove him from home) (as Blackmun memorably wrote in dissent, “Poor Joshua!”) Whal

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers , 583 U.S. 149 (decided February 21, 2018): whistleblower statute did not allow damages for retaliatory termination where employee had reported securities laws violations to senior management but not to the SEC Class v. United States , 583 U.S. 174 (decided February 21, 2018): defendant pleading guilty can still appeal on grounds that statute under which he was charged is unconstitutional (carrying a gun on U.S. Capitol grounds, 40 U.S.C.

Jacobson v. Massachusetts , 197 U.S. 11 (decided February 20, 1905): state statute can allow local boards of health to require vaccinations (plaintiff contested Cambridge’s 1902 attempt to stem smallpox epidemic) Timbs v. Indiana , 586 U.S. 146 (decided February 20, 2019): Excessive Fines Clause of Eighth Amendment is enforceable against states under Fourteenth Amendment; remands on issue of whether civil forfeiture statute violates Clause (here, vehicle seized worth four tim

Ogden v. Saunders , 25 U.S. 213 (decided February 19, 1827): states may legislate to any extent not prohibited by the Constitution and not exclusively the domain of Congress; specifically, Congress’s power to “establish uniform laws on bankruptcies throughout the United States” doesn’t prevent states from creating their own bankruptcy statutes so long as they don’t conflict with federal law and don’t affect contracts in effect before statutes went into effect (a long, long de

Bibles v. Oregon Natural Desert Ass’n , 519 U.S. 355 (decided February 18, 1997): Freedom of Information Act did not entitle environmental group to obtain mailing list of Bureau of Land Management’s newsletter “so that alternative information could be sent to them” Robinson v. Shell Oil Co. , 519 U.S. 337 (decided February 18, 1997): antiretaliation provision of Civil Rights Act of 1964 applied to post-employment actions (here, negative reference given by former employer agai