US Supreme Court timeline
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The Eleventh Amendment is ratified
The Eleventh Amendment (Amendment XI) to the United States Constitution, which was passed by the Congress on March 4, 1794 and was ratified on... Read more
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Dred Scott v. Sandford, aka "Dred Scott Decision"
Dred Scott v. Sandford, commonly referred to as the Dred Scott decision, was a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that people of African descent... Read more
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Ex Parte Milligan
Ex parte Milligan, 71 U.S. 2 (1866), was a United States Supreme Court case that ruled that the application of military tribunals to citizens when... Read more
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Ex Parte Vallandigham
THIS case arose on the petition of Clement L. Vallandigham for a certiorari, to be directed to the Judge Advocate General of the Army of the United... Read more
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Plessy v. Ferguson Final Ruling
Plessy v. Ferguson is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of racial... Read more
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US Supreme Court Rules on Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court, which overturned earlier... Read more
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Sonia Sotomayor is Born
Sonia Maria Sotomayor was born in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. Her father, Juan Sotomayor, had a third-grade education and did not speak... Read more
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Sonia Sotomayor Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes
Sonia was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age eight, and began taking daily insulin injections. Her father died of heart problems at age 42, when... Read more
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Thurgood Marshall Confirmed as Supreme Court Justice
On June 13, 1967, President Johnson nominated Marshall to the Supreme Court following the retirement of Justice Tom C. Clark, saying that this was... Read more
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Supreme Court Rules In Favor of Swann in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, 402 U.S. 1 (1971) was an important United States Supreme Court case dealing with the busing of... Read more
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Sonia Sotomayor Graduates from Princeton University
When Sotomayor entered Princeton University on a full scholarship, there were few women students and fewer Latinos (about 20). She knew only of the... Read more
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Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Bakke in University of California v. Bakke
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978) was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on... Read more
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Sonia Sotomayor Graduates from Yale Law School
Ms. Sotomayor was not alone; for many minority students who arrived at elite colleges, the first thing they wanted to study was their own... Read more
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Sonia Sotomayor Joins the Manhattan District Attorney's Office
Ms. Sotomayor spent about five years as a prosecutor. Interviews with her colleagues and supervisors painted a portrait of a frightened rookie... Read more
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Sonia Sotomayor Joins the Board of Directors of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund
The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund was founded in 1972 as a non-profit organization by three lawyers, Jorge Batista, Victor Marrero,... Read more
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Sonia Sotomayor Joins New York Law Firm Pavia & Harcourt
In 1984, she entered private practice, joining the commercial litigation practice group of Pavia & Harcourt in Manhattan as an associate. One of 30... Read more
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Sonia Sotomayor Serves on the New York Campaign Finance Board
Sotomayor brings hands-on experience to the issue [of campaign finance] from her four years of experience on the New York City Campaign Finance... Read more
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Ted Kennedy Remains Conspicuously Silent During Anita Hill Testimony at Clarence Thomas Supreme Court Hearings
On October 11, 1991, Hill was called to testify during the hearing. Ten years earlier, in 1981, Hill had become an attorney-adviser to Clarence... Read more
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Sonia Sotomayor Begins Tenure as a Federal District Court Judge
New York is now officially in line to have the its first Hispanic woman as a Federal District Court judge. President Bush last week sent to the... Read more
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Sonia Sotomayor Rules in the High-Profile Case, Silverman v. Major League Baseball Player Relations Committee
Ruling from the bench, Sotomayor chided baseball owners, saying they had no right to unilaterally eliminate the 20-year-old system of free agents... Read more
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US Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Gratz in Gratz v. Bollinger
Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244 (2003), was a United States Supreme Court case regarding the University of Michigan undergraduate affirmative... Read more
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US Supreme Court rules that Guantanamo Bay detainees have the right to challenge their detention in court
Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. ___ (2008), was a writ of habeas corpus submission made in a civilian court of the United States on behalf of Lakhdar... Read more
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Harman wants U.S. Supreme Court to remove West Virginia judge from case
The extent of the influence of Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship's money soon may be determined by the U.S. Supreme Court. The owner of a... Read more
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Barack Obama Nominates Sonia Sotomayor to the US Supreme Court
President Obama on Tuesday nominated federal appellate Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. President Obama on Tuesday introduces... Read more
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Sonia Sotomayor Begins US Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings
In about an hour, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin the confirmation hearing of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s first nominee to... Read more