Chisholm v. Georgia (1793)

1) Link to the Actual Opinion
Read the U.S. Reports opinion (PDF)

2) Summary of the Opinion
A South Carolina citizen sued the State of Georgia in federal court. The Supreme Court allowed it under Article III jurisdiction.

3) Why It Mattered
The decision sparked outrage and directly led to the Eleventh Amendment, which barred such suits and reshaped state sovereign immunity.

4) What It Provided or Took Away

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

1) Link to the Actual Opinion
Read the U.S. Reports opinion (PDF)

2) Summary of the Opinion
William Marbury asked the Supreme Court to order Secretary of State James Madison to deliver Marbury’s judicial commission. Chief Justice John Marshall held that Marbury had a right to the commission, but the statute giving the Supreme Court original jurisdiction to issue the writ went beyond Article III. Because that part of the statute conflicted with the Constitution, it was void.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

1) Link to the Actual Opinion
Read the U.S. Reports opinion (PDF)

2) Summary of the Opinion
Maryland imposed a tax on the Second Bank of the United States. The Supreme Court upheld Congress’s power to create the Bank and struck down Maryland’s tax.

3) Why It Mattered
This case announced the doctrine of implied powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause and reinforced the principle of federal supremacy.

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

1) Link to the Actual Opinion
Read the U.S. Reports opinion (PDF)

2) Summary of the Opinion
New York granted an exclusive steamboat monopoly to operate in its waters. The Supreme Court ruled that the federal government’s power under the Commerce Clause trumped the state-granted monopoly.

3) Why It Mattered
The decision gave a broad interpretation of “commerce among the states” and affirmed that Congress has the final say over interstate commerce.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

1) Link to the Actual Opinion
Read the U.S. Reports opinion (PDF)

2) Summary of the Opinion
Dred Scott, an enslaved man, sued for freedom after living in free territories. The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, were not citizens under the Constitution and therefore had no standing to sue. The Court also struck down the Missouri Compromise as unconstitutional, claiming Congress lacked authority to prohibit slavery in the territories.

Ex parte Milligan (1866)

1) Link to the Actual Opinion
Read the U.S. Reports opinion (PDF)

2) Summary of the Opinion
Lambdin Milligan, a civilian in Indiana, was arrested during the Civil War and tried by a military tribunal for alleged disloyal activities. The Supreme Court held that trying civilians in military courts is unconstitutional when civilian courts are open and functioning.

3) Why It Mattered
This case set a powerful precedent protecting civil liberties during wartime. It declared that the Constitution applies “equally in war and in peace.”