There are several types of opinions:
-
Majority opinions are issued when at least five
justices agree with the legal reasoning behind the decision. These
opinions form new precedents that lower courts must follow.
-
Plurality opinions are issued when several justices
agree with the decision but not the legal reasoning behind it. A
plurality opinion represents the views of a majority of the justices on
the winning side.
-
Concurring opinions are issued by justices who agree
with the winning side but disagrees with the legal reasoning.
-
Dissenting opinions are issued by justices who
opposed the ruling decision and favored the losing party in a case.
Dissenting opinions explain why the dissenting justices find the ruling
decision wrong.
The decision can affirm the lower court’s ruling, in
which case that ruling stands. If the Supreme Court finds error in the lower
court’s ruling, it can reverse the ruling. Sometimes when a
case is reversed, it gets remanded, or sent back to a lower
court for a new trial or proceeding.
The following table summarizes some of the most important court cases
in American history.
LANDMARK SUPREME COURT CASES
|
Case
|
Date
|
Significance
|
| Marbury v. Madison | 1803 | Courts assumed the power of judicial review (the
power to declare laws unconstitutional) |
| McCulloch v. Maryland | 1819 | Granted the federal government broad powers through
the necessary and proper clause |
| Dred Scott v. Sanford | 1857 | Forcibly returned a slave to his owner in the South
and thus increased tensions over slavery |
| Plessy v. Ferguson | 1896 | Ruled that “separate but equal” was constitutional;
legalized segregation and Jim Crow laws |
| Brown v. Board of Education | 1954 | Overturned Plessy; declared segregation
unconstitutional |
| Mapp v. Ohio | 1961 | Expanded the exclusionary rule to cover state
courts |
| Gideon v. Wainwright | 1963 | Ruled that the government must supply a lawyer to
those who cannot afford one |
| Miranda v. Arizona | 1966 | Ruled that police must inform people they are about
to question of their right against
self-incrimination |
| Roe v. Wade | 1973 | Legalized abortions in the first trimester of
pregnancy |
| Bush v. Gore | 2000 | Decided the 2000 presidential election by ruling
that the Florida Supreme Court was wrong in ordering a
recount |
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