Landmark Decisions in the United States Supreme Court

Dartmouth College v. Woodward serves as a quiet landmark decision, but employs precedence with regards to Fletcher v. Peck and Sturges v. Crowninshield to use Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution, commonly referred to as the Contracts Clause. Listen to learn more!

In the biggest case since Marbury, the 1819 case of McCulloch v. Maryland offers up the first glimpse at the use of the Necessary and Proper Clause in the Supreme Court of the United States. Listen to see where Chief Justice John Marshall stands with regards to the use of a national bank.

The complexities in Sturges v. Crowninshield and Ogden v. Saunders are apparent as there is no clear majority decision to be made. Although both sides finally come to a consensus, it is not without some bargaining with regards to the combination of bankruptcy laws and constitutional laws in the United States. New York is the epicenter for these two major cases, and many questions arise out of state legislation they passed. Listen for more info!

Although Chief Justice John Marshall had to recuse himself from this case for a conflict of interest, Martin v. Hunter's Lessee serves as a bright spot for the federal judiciary where they finally see that they can apply the acts of judicial review to entire state governments, not just the legislature or executive branches. While the case is pretty soundly cut and dry, there remains a lot of doubt about how to go about the decision. Listen to find out more!

United States v. Hudson and Goodwin serves as the intersection between the Circuit Courts and the Supreme Court, as well as the intertwining of constitutional and criminal law. The case deals with libel against public officials in the Circuit Courts, but the Supreme Court has to answer one basic question: can federal courts hear a case where they have no jurisdiction in criminal, or common law, and the act is not deemed illegal by the U.S. Congress, nor the Constitution. Listen to learn more!

Fletcher v. Peck represents the first use of judicial review by the Supreme Court with regards to state legislation. Listen to see how complicated a scenario we run into, and how Chief Justice John Marshall handles it for the Court.

John Marshall proved to be a very influential early politician in the United States, but his main legacy sits on the Supreme Court. As Chief Justice he had the ability to preside over many landmarks decisions, none more powerful than the case of Marbury v. Madison. Finally, judicial review comes into focus for the court, but not exactly in the way many imagined it would.

This episode represents the first official attempts at establishing some form of judicial review in the United States Supreme Court. In the first, Chisolm v. Georgia, we see this process fail, but in the latter, Hylton v. United States, we see quite the opposite. Both of these cases start an important process in the Federal government that ultimately comes in 1803 with Marbury v. Madison.

This episode represents the first official docketed Supreme Court case in Van Staphorst v. Maryland, as well as the first official Supreme Court decision in West v. Barnes. While neither of these cases are really 'landmarks', they lay important groundwork in establishing the goals and ideals of the early federal court system.

Trailer for Landmark Decisions in the United States Supreme Court. Episodes will be released every Monday @ 8AM!

Before diving into landmark cases we must take a broad look at where the Supreme Court came from, and how the inferior courts came into being. We will do this through looking at the Article III of the United States Constitution, and the Judiciary Act of 1789.