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Supreme Court Decisions: Home

A research topic guide covering selected landmark Supreme Court decisions. Additional cases will be added over time.

Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Decisions

There are numerous landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions. This guide provides resources on selected cases, with additional cases coming soon. 

Databases

Judicial Decisions: Crash Course Government and Politics

Today, Craig Benzine is going to dive into the factors that influence judicial decisions. As you may have noticed, the Supreme Court recently handed down some pretty big decisions on same-sex marriage (in Obergefell v Hodges) and the Affordable Care Act (in King v. Burwell). Now, it's important to remember that these decisions are not made in a vacuum, but influenced by the other branches of government, political affiliations, and past court decisions. We’re also talk about a judge’s judicial philosophy - that is their relative restraint or activism in making decisions on laws. Judicial restraint is often equated with conservatism, but as we’ll show you, this is not always the case.

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Canonical and Landmark Cases Introductory Class

In this session, students explore the history of the Supreme Court and landmark Supreme Court cases from Marbury v. Madison (1803) to the Roberts Court. This is a great session for students to preview and investigate the Supreme Court cases to encourage further study of government.

Source: YouTube

Perspectives

The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions

The Supreme Court has been the site of some of the great debates of American history, from child labor and prayer in the schools, to busing and abortion. The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions offers lively and insightful accounts of the most important cases ever arguedbefore the Court, from Marbury v. Madison and Scott v. Sandford (the Dred Scott decision) to Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade.This new edition of the Guide contains more than 450 entries on major Supreme Court cases, including 53 new entries on the latest landmark rulings. Among the new entries are Bush v. Gore, Nixon v. United States, Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academicand Institutional Rights. Four decisionsHamdi v. Bush, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Rasu v. Bush, and Rumsfeld v. Padillaare considered in a single essay entitled Enemy Combatant Cases. Arranged alphabetically and written by eminent legal scholars, each entry provides the United States Reports citation, thedate the case was argued and decided, the vote of the Justices, who wrote the opinion for the Court, who concurred, and who dissented. More important, the entries feature an informative account of the particulars of the case, the legal and social background, the reasoning behind the Courts decision,and the cases impact on American society. For this edition, Ely has added an extensive Further Reading section and revised the Case Index and Topical Index.For anyone interested in the great controversies of our time, this invaluable book is a must reada primer on the epic constitutional battles that have informed American life.

Essential Supreme Court Decisions

First published in 1954, this indispensable reference quickly became the gold standard for concise summaries of important U.S. Supreme Court cases. The only reference guide to Supreme Court cases organized both topically and chronologically within chapters so that readers understand how cases fit into a historical context, the 15th edition has been extensively revised to ensure that it remains the most up-to-date resource available. An essential resource for law students, lawyers, and everyone interested in our nation's Constitution and the Supreme Court decisions that explicate it.

Introduction to Constitutional Law: 100 Supreme Court Cases Everyone Should Know

An Introduction to Constitutional Law will teach you the narrative of constitutional law as it has developed over the past two centuries.

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