Chief Justices of the United
States
Those who left the biggest imprint on Constitutional interpretation

John Marshall
• John Adams appointed John Marshall

Marbury v. Madison, 1803
• Established Judicial Review

McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819
• Upheld the concept of Federalism & the
Supremacy Clause
Executive
Legislative
Judicial

Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824
• Upheld Congresses power to control interstate commerce

Worcester v. Georgia, 1832
• Declared the Cherokee Nation as a distinct community occupying its own territory in which the laws of Georgia can have no force.

Earl Warren
• Dwight Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren

Brown v. Board of Education,
Topeka, KS 1954
• Declared “separate-but-equal” to be inherently unequal in the case of public education

Mapp v. Ohio, 1961
• More clearly defined the Exclusionary Rule stating that evidence obtained without a search warrant could not be used against the defendant.

Baker v. Carr, 1962
• Kept gerrymandering illegal, ordering
Tennessee to make U.S. Congressional districts as equal as possible due to population shifts.

Engel v. Vitale, 1962
Court ruled that standard morning prayers in public schools violated the Establishment
Clause of the 1 st Amendment

Gideon v. Wainwright, 1963
Court ruled that the right to counsel applied to all criminal cases.

Westberry v. Sanders, 1964
Court established the one-man-one-vote rule. Again, upheld the illegality of gerrymandering

Heart of Atlanta Motel v. U.S., 1964
Court ruled that Congress could order the desegregation of private businesses that may profit from interstate commerce.

Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965
Court ruled that the marriage bedroom was a private place and the government had no business invading that privacy

Miranda v. Arizona, 1966
Established the Miranda Rights which must be read to and understood by those accused of a crime prior to being questioned.

In Re Gault, 1967
The Court ruled that juveniles have some of the same due process rights as adults

Tinker v. Des Moines Indiana
Community School District, 1969
Court ruled that schools could not interfere with a student’s freedom of expression as long as the expression did not interfere with instruction.

Warren Burger
Richard Nixon appointed Warren Burger

Furman v. Georgia, 1972
Death penalty is deemed unconstitutional for
Violating the 8 th amendment.

Roe v Wade, 1972
The Court declared state laws making abortions illegal to be unconstitutional.

Miller v California, 1973
The Court ruled that
“contemporary community standards” be used in judging what is obscene.
VS.
Bible Belt

Gregg v Georgia, 1976
The Death Penalty was
Justified as long as
Certain steps were
Followed prior to
Issuing the penalty.

Board of Regents University of
California v. Bakke, 1978
The Court ruled that race should not be the only factor in making affirmative action decisions, but it can be considered.

Lynch v Donnelly, 1984
The Court ruled that public displays of religious beliefs are permissible only if they are part of an otherwise nonreligious or multi-religious display.

William H. Rehnquist
Ronald Reagan appointed William
Rehnquist

Cruzan v Missouri, 1990
The Court upheld
Missouri’s right to
Keep Nancy Cruzan
Alive on life support
In spite of her
Permanent vegetative state

Hazelwood School District v
Kuhlmeier, 1988
The Court stated,
“a school need not tolerate student speech that is inconsistent with its basic educational mission, even though the government could not censor similar speech outside the school.”

Bob Jones University v The United
States, 1983

New Jersey v T.L.O., 1985
School officials only
Need “reasonable
Suspicion” to search
A student

United States v Eichman, 1990
The Court declared the
Flag Protection Act unconstitutional.

Board of Education Westside
Community Schools v Mergens, 1990
The Court upheld the Equal Access Clause from 1984.

U.S. Term Limits v Thornton, 1995
The Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for Arkansas to limit the terms of U.S.
Congressmen.

United States v The American
Library Association, 2003
The Court ruled in favor of public libraries being able to block internet accessibility to certain sites that might display questionable materials.