It is "a thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please." 

[President Thomas Jefferson, referring to the Constitution of the United States of America, in a letter to Spencer Roane, in reaction to Chief Justice John Marshall's decision in the landmark case of Marbury v. Madison, which established the principle of judicial review.]

PREFACE

Several years ago I intended to write a book entitled The Fifty Worst Supreme Court Decisions, and to that end I did considerable research and some drafting.  For a variety of reasons, including the press of time and other commitments, I postponed the writing.  Now, I've decided to go forward with the project, but with two differences.

First, as I've gotten deeper and deeper into Supreme Court decisions beginning in the late Eighteenth Century, it has become difficult to limit the really bad ones to a mere fifty.  Accordingly, the new title: Fifty of the Worst Supreme Court Decisions.  This title will enable me to add others as I decide they qualify.

Second, instead of using conventional publishing methods as I've done with other of my books, I'm going to "publish" Fifty Of The Worst Supreme Court Decisions here on my website, at www.henrymarkholzer.com.

Among other benefits, this approach will enable me to write the book whenever I can take the time from more pressing commitments, its dissemination to the public will be much broader on the Internet than conventionally, and Fifty Of The Worst Supreme Court Decsions will be available without charge to readers.

Accordingly, as I write I 'll notify everyone on my mailing list that I've posted a new case.  To get on that list, one need only access "Receive Newsletter" on this website and provide the necessary information.

Feedback is welcome, but time constraints will not allow me to reply to it.

To access a case, simply click on the highlighted subject above it and, if necessary, scroll down.

FIFTY OF THE WORST SUPREME COURT DECSIONS

By Henry Mark Holzer

 Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

PART I.  REPUBLICAN INSTITUTIONS

    Federalism

          M'Culloch v. Maryland: The Necessary and Proper Clause and the Jefferson-          Hamilton Duel

          Gibbons v. Ogden: The Interstate Commerce Clause and Robert Fulton's Steamboat

          Wickard v. Filburn: Intra-state Commerce and Home Grown Wheat

          Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States: Interstate Commerce and "Morality" 

          Gonzales v. Raich: John Marshall and Mary Jane

     Separation of powers

           Estelle v. Gamble: The Court Discovers "Prisoners' rRghts"

          Morrison v. Olson: The Independent Counsel and the Chipping Court

          Clinton v. New York: The Line Item Veto and Out of Control Spending

           Hamdi v. Rumsfeld: Due Process and Enemy Combatants

           Rasul v. Bush: Enemy Combatants and Habeas Corpus

     Judicial power

           Gitlow v.  New York: "Incorporating" the Bill of Rights

           Palko v. Connecticut: Divining "Substantive Due Process"

           Griswold v. Connecticut: Manufacturing the "Right to Privacy"

           Shapiro v. Thompson: Inventing the "Right to Travel" 

        Missouri v. Jenkins (I): Running the local public Schools

     PART II.  INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

     Contracts

            Legal Tender Cases: From Greenbacks to Greenspan

            Muller v. Oregon: Ladies, Laundries, and the Third Reich

            Blaisdell v. Home Building & Loan Association: Mortgages in Name Only

            Shelley v. Kraemer: Private Property, Liberty of Contract, and Racially Restrictive Covenants

            Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co.: Another Nail in Contract's Coffin

     Property

     Speech/Press/Association

     Religion

     Criminal justice

     Race

     Personal autonomy

CONCLUSION