Category Archives: Supreme Court Cases

In Klarman’s book From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality (New York, 2004), the case Cumming v Richmond County Board of Education (1899) is identified as “[t]he Plessy era Court’s only case … Continue reading →

In Lincoln’s Constitution (2003) Daniel Farber prefaces his discussion of martial (or military) law and its use during the Civil War with the Supreme Court case that assured its legitimacy – Luther v. Borden (1849) (148-9). (The case documents are available … Continue reading →

    In Lincoln’s Constitution (Chicago, 2003), Daniel Farber addresses the 1863 Prize Cases and argues, “Lincoln acted appropriately” in regard to the Supreme Courts question of the constitutionality of Lincolns’ blockade order (142).    The Prize Cases (1863) questioned … Continue reading →

Daniel Farber calls it “colorful enough to make a good movie script”, and indeed the court case Cunningham v. Neagle (1890) mentioned in Lincoln’s Constitution (Chicago, 2003) has the characteristics fit for a drama (133). Nevertheless, the case covers the … Continue reading →

In Lincoln’s Constitution (Chicago, 2003), Daniel Farber distinguishes Ex Parte Merryman (1861) as the most influential case concerning the suspension of individual rights during the Civil War. According to Farber, Merryman showcased Chief Justice Taney as Lincoln’s rival and “vehement … Continue reading →

As part of Daniel Farber’s book, Lincoln’s Constitution, he uses the Ex Parte Vallandigham Case of 1863 to demonstrate how Civil War military authority played a role in inhibiting free speech.  This case is important to our understanding of Lincoln’s questionable Civil War … Continue reading →

In Lincoln’s Constitution (Chicago, 2003), Daniel Farber identifies the Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) as the turning point in Lincoln’s constitutional attitudes.  “Before Dred Scott,” Farber writes, “Lincoln does not seem to have questioned the role … Continue reading →