Supreme Court Case Study

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Historically Significant United States Supreme Court Cases There are many Supreme Court cases that have had significant impacts on our American society. They have each had a historical importance politically and constitutionally. This paper will be discussing the background, the rulings, and the significance of each case. The Supreme Court cases that will be discussed will be: Marbury v Madison, McCulloch v Maryland, Dred Scot v Sandford, Plessy v Ferguson, and Brown v Board of Education. The first case of significance was Marbury v Madison, in 1803. When President Adams lost his reelection bid in 1800 to Thomas Jefferson, President Adams realized his defeat he tried to make sure the judiciary would be controlled by the influence and policies …show more content…

However, they also stated that the Court did not have the jurisdiction to demand the commissions be delivered. Furthermore, the Court also ruled the Judiciary Act of 1789, which gave the Supreme Court the extended jurisdiction, unconstitutional. This court case was significant because it established Judicial Review. “It was the first time it had struck down an act of Congress. Marshall wrote, ‘It is emphatically the province and duty’ of the courts ‘to say what the law is.’” (Sloan, Cliff, and McKean 1). The courts could now proclaim a law unconstitutional, and the Judiciary Branch gained power with this historic decision, creating a precedent for many more cases to come in the …show more content…

Plessy sued on the grounds of the equal protection clause. The Court ruled in favor of Ferguson and upheld the Louisiana law, stating it was not founded on a notion of black inferiority, and ruled separate but equal was constitutional. They also ruled the Fourteenth Amendment did not cover and end social inequality, but rather the political equality of blacks and whites. This decision was significant because it gave separate but equal legality in the courts, and legislation process. This decision would be the precedent of cases involving separate but equal legislation until the Brown v Board of Education Supreme Court decision, in

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