Our Timeplot of the history of the Supreme Court features 53 landmark cases from the beginning of the Court to present day. For each case, we indicate how each of the justices on the Court at the time voted. As one of our reviewers noted, choosing that list of cases is a fairly subjective process, but makes for a pretty good parlor game.
So how did we decide which cases to include? We consulted a variety of lists of landmark cases published by various academic and historical institutions, and we consulted with a number of serious students of the Court—people like lawyers, professors of law, and political scientists specializing in American history.
Some more prominent cases, like Marbury v. Madison, Dred Scott, or Roe v. Wade, would likely make anyone’s list of the top fifty or so. Others are more debatable. How would you have revised the list? Leave us your comments.
I am struck by the lack of even one pivotal Indian Law case. Among the majority of our nation’s lawyers, there is a harrowing ignorance of the cases both establishing and chipping away at the recognition of Indian nations as distinct political communities. The overlapping jurisdiction, vacillating federal policies, abrogation of treaty promises, and general self-bastardization and twisting of some of our own supposedly fundamental legal principles creates such a messy, complicated area of the law that careful scrutiny is difficult at best. These cases have created piles of unintended consequences. The language from these cases is still used (sometimes unpredictably) to both protect and bind entire nations of people living in our country and, yet, is unheard of by most. Worcester v. Georgia, Johnson v. McIntosh…I wish something/anything would have made the list.
Rose, thanks for your comment.
Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida (1996) is already listed as Landmark Case #50; in this case, the Court held that the Indian Commerce Clause and, by implication, the Commerce Clause do not give Congress the power to abrogate Eleventh Amendment state sovereign immunity from lawsuits. The Seminole Tribe filed suit after the state of Florida refused to negotiate with the Seminoles to create a compact for casino gaming (as required by the 1988 federal Indian Regulatory Gaming Act).
Though it is not listed in the “Landmark Cases” list, we have noted Worcester v. Georgia (1832) in the “river” timeline (see just above the river, in the “Marshall” section, at year 1832). For those that may not be familiar with the case, in Worcester v. Georgia the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cherokee nation but President Andrew Jackson sided with the state of Georgia. As the chart notes, the circumstances surrounding the case ultimately led to the removal of the Cherokees from their traditional lands in what we now know as the “Trail of Tears.”
As we look to future iterations of this chart, we’ll consider placing Worcester v. Georgia in higher prominence in the list of Landmark Cases. You also mentioned Johnson v. McIntosh; are there any other cases that you (or anyone else) would like to see? Leave your comments below.
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