HISTORY OF THE U.S.

SUPREME COURT

1

THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

• Article III – The Judiciary

– Section 1 - Establishes the Supreme Court

– Section 2 - Defines the Court’s Powers

– Section 3 – Defines treason

• Article II – The Executive

– Section 2 – Nomination of judges

• Qualification of the Justices

2

THE COURT

• Selection and Appointments

• Historical Composition of the Court

• The Court Term

• Drafting and Releasing Opinions

• The Chief Justice’s Role

3

THE JAY COURT 1789 - 1795

• Selecting the First Court

• Few Willing to Serve on the Court

– No Cases to Hear

– Riding Circuit

5

JAY COURT CASES

• Chisholm v. Georgia

– Background

– Decision

– Reaction

– 11th Amendment

• Glass v. Sloop Betsey

6

THE RUTLEDGE COURT 1795

• The Jay Treaty

• Jay Leaves the Court

• The Court’s First Recess Appointment

• Rutledge Makes a Very Unwise Remark

• The Senate Refuses to Confirm

8

THE ELLSWORTH COURT 1796 - 1800

• Ware v. Hylton

• A New Home

• Alien & Sedition Acts of 1798

– Naturalization Act

– Alien Friends Act

– Alien Enemies Act

– Sedition Act

10

ELECTION OF 1800

• The Federalist Are Routed

– “Mad Tom” Jefferson Elected President

– His Republican Followers Would Control Congress

• The Federalists Hope that Judges Could Save the Constitution From These Radicals

• Chief Justice Ellsworth is Ailing and Resigns

• John Jay is Asked to Serve Again – He Refuses

• President Adams Nominates His Secretary of State, John Marshall, to the Supreme Court

11

THE MARSHALL COURT 1801 – 1835

"My gift of John Marshall to the people of

the United States may be the proudest act

of my life" John Adams ~ President

•John Marshall

•Marbury v. Madison

– Marshall’s Decision

•Impeachment of Justice Samuel Chase

13

The Next 15 Years

• McCulloch v. Maryland

• States’ Rights and Slavery

– Compromise of 1820

• Cohens v. Virginia

• Gibbons v. Ogden

14

Missouri Compromise - 1820

15

The Next 15 Years

• McCulloch v. Maryland

• States’ Rights and Slavery

– Compromise of 1820

• Cohens v. Virginia

• Gibbons v. Ogden

16

Marshall’s Final Years

• Worchester v. Georgia

• The Antelope

• Marshall’s Passing

17

THE TANEY COURT 1836 - 1864

• Roger Taney

• Prigg v. Pennsylvania

• Dred Scott

19

Dred Scott’s Travels

20

SCOTT V. SANFORD

• Before Taney, the doctrine was:

– Once Free, Always Free

• Strader v. Graham

–Once a Slave, Always a Slave

• Who Was Dred Scott?

• Who Was Sanford?

• The Kansas-Nebraska Act

21

SCOTT V. SANFORD

• The Decision

• The Final Outcome

• March 4, 1861

• Succession Divides the Court

22

THE END OF TANEY’S TERM

• Ex parte Merryman

• The Prize Cases

• Taney Dies

23

THE CHASE COURT 1864 – 1873

• Salmon P. Chase

• Ex Parte Milligan

• The Post-Civil War Amendments

• Musical Chairs

• President Andrew Johnson’s Impeachment

• Judicial Act of 1869

• Chase Dies25

THE WAITE COURT 1874 - 1888

• Morrison R. Waite

• Slaughterhouse Case

• Cruickshank v. United States

• Yick Wo v. Hopkins

• Civil Rights Act of 1875

• Waite Dies

27

THE FULLER COURT 1888-1910

• Melville W. Fuller

• The Judicial Handshake

• Plessy v. Ferguson

• Lochner v. New York

• Muller v. Oregon

• The Brandeis Brief

29

THE WHITE COURT 1910-1921

• Edward Douglas White

• Grandfather Clauses

• The First Jew – Louis D. Brandeis

• Brandeis and James McReynolds

• Child Labor Laws

31

WORLD WAR I

• The Espionage Act - 1917

• The Sedition Act – 1918

• Schenck v. United States

32

THE TAFT COURT 1921-1930

• William Howard Taft

• Child Labor Laws Revisited

• Gitlow v. New York

• Moore v. Dempsey

• Adkins v. Children’ Hospital

• 1930 - Taft Retires

34

THE HUGHES COURT 1930-1941

• Charles Evan Hughes

• “The Four Horsemen of Reaction”

• “The Three Musketeers”

• “The Roving Justices”

• The New Deal Legislation

– The National Industrial Recovery Administration (NRA)

– The Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)

36

New Deal Cases

• Nebbia v. New York

• Schechter Poultry Co. v. United States

• And Many Others…….

• Packing the Court

• The Court Changes Directions

– West Coast Hotel v. Parrish

37

Civil Rights Cases

• Near v. Minnesota

• Norris v. Alabama (The Scottsboro Boys)

• Minersville District v. Gobitis

• Charles Evans Hughes Retires

38

THE STONE COURT 1941-1946

• Harlan Fiske Stone

• West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette

• Japanese Internment

– Hirabayashi v. United States

– Korematsu v. United States

– Ex Parte Endo

• Ex parte Quirin

• Cramer v. United States

• Harlan Fiske Stone Dies

40

THE VINSON COURT 1946-1953

• Fred Moore Vinson

• The Quirin Case Lives On

– Hans Max Haupt v. United States

• The Beginnings of Brown v. Board of

Education

– Olive Brown of Topeka, Kansas

– Harry Briggs of Clarendon County, SC

– Two Similar Cases from Virginia and Delaware

– Reargument Ordered

• Vinson Dies42

THE WARREN COURT 1953-1969

• Earl Warren

• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS

• Unanimous Decision

• 21 States + DC Affected

• No Date for Changes Set; States Given Chance

To Be Heard On Appropriate Remedies

• Warren Declares: Desegregation would now

proceed “with all deliberate speed.”

44

WARREN COURT - Continued

• Mapp v. Ohio

• Gideon v. Wainwright

• Baker v. Carr

• Engle v.Vitale

• Murray v. Curlett

• Abington School District v. Schempp

• Warren Retires to Head Commission into JFK’sAssassination

45

THE BURGER COURT 1969-1986

• Warren E. Burger

• Freedom of Religion

• Freedom of the Press

• Exclusionary Rule

• United States v. Richard M. Nixon

47

THE BURGER COURT - Continued

• Gender Cases

• Affirmative Action

• Abortion

• Death Penalty

• Burger Retires

48

THE REHNQUIST COURT 1986-2005

• William H. Rehnquist

• County of Allegheny v. ACLU

• Weisman v. Lee

• United States v. Lopez

• Bush v. Gore

• Lawrence v. Texas

• Newdow v. Elk Grove School Disctict

50

52

THE CURRENT CHIEF JUSTICE CHATS

WITH HIS EVENTUAL SUCCESSOR