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Free Resources: Law & Legal

Landmark Cases by Subject

Educational resources for Supreme Court Landmark Cases can be found at United States Courts.

Abortion & Birth Control

  • Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479
  • Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113
  • Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490
  • Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833
  • Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914
  • Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124

Capital Punishment

  • Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 
  • Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 
  • Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262
  • Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242 
  • Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 325 
  • Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280 
  • Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 

Civil Commitment

  • O'Connor v. Donaldson, 422 U.S. 563 

Civil Rights, Affirmative Action

  • Regents of the Univ. of Cal. v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 
  • Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244
  • Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306

Civil Rights, Homosexuality

  • Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 
  • Hurley v. Irish American Gay Group of Boston, 515 U.S. 557 
  • Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 
  • Boy Scouts of America et al. v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640 
  • Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 

Civil Rights, Racial Discrimination

  • Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 
  • Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 
  • Korematsu v. US, 323 U.S. 214 
  • Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. US, 379 U.S. 241 
  • Katzenbach v. McClung, 379 U.S. 294 
  • Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 
  • City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 
  • Ricci v. DeStefano, 129 S. Ct. 2658 

Civil Rights, School Desegregation

  • Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483
  • Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, 551 U.S. 701

Civil Rights, Sex Discrimination

  • Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677
  • Craig v. Boren, 429 U.S. 190
  • United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515

Elections

  • Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98
  • Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board, 531 U.S. 70

Freedom of Religion

  • Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1
  • Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421
  • Abington School District v. Schempp (and Murray v. Curlett), 374 U.S. 203 
  • Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602
  • Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 
  • Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577
  • Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 
  • Rosenberger v. University of Virginia, 515 U.S. 819 
  • Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203 

Freedom of Speech and of the Press

  • - Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47
  • - Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568
  • - Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476
  • - New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254
  • - Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444
  • - Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503
  • - Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15
  • - New York Times v. United States, 403 U.S. 713
  • - Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15
  • - Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260
  • - Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46
  • - Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397
  • - Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc., 501 U.S. 560
  • - Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S. 844
  • - Erie v. Pap's A. M., 529 U.S. 277

International Law

  • - Breard v. Greene, 523 U.S. 371

Mental Competency

  • - Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402
  • - Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399
  • - Godinez v. Moran, 509 U.S. 389

Right to Attorney

  • - Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335
  • - Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478
  • - Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 486
  • - In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1

Right to Bear Arms

  • - US. V. Miller, 307 U.S. 174
  • - District of Columbia v. Heller, 128 S. Ct. 2783

Right to Die

  • - Cruzan v. Dir., Mo. Dep't of Health, 497 U.S. 261
  • - Vacco v. Quill, 521 U.S. 793
  • - Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702
  • - Gonzales v. Oregon, 546 U.S. 243

Separation of Powers

  • - Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137
  • - Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, 14 U.S. 304
  • - McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316
  • - Ableman v. Booth, 62 U.S. 506
  • - Missouri v. Holland, 252 U.S. 416
  • - Cooper v. Aaron, 358 U.S. 1
  • - United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683
  • - South Dakota v. Dole, 483 U.S. 203
  • - U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779
  • - United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549
  • - Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681
  • - Printz v. United States, 521 U.S. 898

Terrorism

  • - Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507
  • - Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466
  • - Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426

Unreasonable Search and Seizure

  • - Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643
  • - Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347
  • - Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton, 515 U.S. 646
  • - Georgia v. Randolph, 547 U.S. 103