Below is a chronological list of significant civil rights decisions by the Supreme Court.

 

-Dred Scott v. Sanford (1856):
In this controversial decision, that was one of many catalysts for the Civil War, the Supreme Court denied both citizenship and basic rights to all blacks, regardless of their status as slave or free. 

 

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896):
In this decision, the Supreme Court sanctioned the use of "separate but equal," that is, racially segregated accommodations and facilities.

 

Korematsu v. U.S. (1944):
In this case, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a Japanese American, who had been prosecuted for remaining in California, despite a 1942 presidential order requiring the relocation of most Japanese-Americans from the west coast as it was designated a military area.

 

Shelley v. Kraemer (1948):
In this decision, the Supreme Court held that "racially restrictive covenants," that is, terms in property deeds that only allowed Caucasians property rights, were unenforceable. Stated plainly, property could not be restricted to white people. 

 

Brown v. Board of Education (1954):
One of the Supreme Courts most famous decisions, this ruling prohibited racial segregation of public schools.

 

Brown v. Board of Education II (1955):
Following and supplementing the landmark decision, the ruling sped up the process for implementing the anti-segregation orders issued in "Brown I."

 

Bailey v. Patterson (1962):
In this case, the Supreme Court declared the racial segregation of interstate and intrastate transportation facilities to be illegal.

 

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963):
In this case, the Supreme Court found that even impoverished criminal defendants must be provided with defense attorneys.

 

Loving v. Virginia (1967):
In this case, the Supreme Court declared that state laws prohibiting inter-racial marriage were unconstitutional.

 

Jones v. Mayer Co. (1968):
The Supreme Court, in this decision, held that federal law prohibits all racial discrimination (private or public), in sale or rental of property.

 

Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971):
In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that certain requirements concerning education and intelligence, which were used as conditions of employment in order to exclude African-American job applicants, did not relate to job performance and were consequently prohibited.

 

Lau v. Nichols (1973):
The Supreme Court, in this decision, ruled that the failure of a city school to provide English language instruction to students of Chinese ancestry was unlawful discrimination.

 

Roe v. Wade (1973):
Another landmark case, the Supreme Court declared that a woman's right to abortion is part of her constitutional right to privacy.

 

Cleveland Bd. of Ed. v. LaFleur (1974):
In this case the Supreme Court held that the mandatory maternity leave rules for pregnant teachers in Ohio public schools violated the constitutions guarantee of due process.

 

Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. (1977):
In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that claims of race as a factor in land zoning required clear proof of the intent to discriminate based on race.

 

University of California Regents v. Bakke (1978):
The Supreme Court, in this case, declared that a public university could take race into account as a factor in the admissions process.

 

Batson v. Kentucky (1986):
In this decision the Supreme Court held that putting an African-American defendant on trial before a jury from which members of his race have been purposefully excluded is a failure to provide equal protection.

 

Bowers v. Hardwick (1986):
The Supreme Court ruled that a Georgia statute criminalizing same-sex sodomy is constitutional.

 

Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986):
The Supreme Court determined that a claim of "hostile environment" sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that may be brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

 

Johnson v. Transportation Agency (1987):
The Supreme Court declared that a county transportation agency appropriately took into account an employee's sex as one factor in determining whether she should be promoted.

 

Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Serv., Inc. (1987):
In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that sex discrimination consisting of same-sex sexual harassment can form the basis for a valid claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

 

Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools (1992):
The Supreme Court determined that awarding monetary damages is acceptable in a case brought to enforce Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, claiming sexual harassment and abuse by a teacher.

 

Romer v. Evans (1996):
In this case, the Supreme Court found that an amendment to Colorado's constitution, which sought to deny legal protection of homosexuals' rights, was unconstitutional.

 

Bragdon v. Abbott (1998):
The Supreme Court ruled that HIV infection qualifies as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

 

Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth (1998):
The Supreme Court held that an employee who refused unwelcome sexual advances of a supervisor (without suffering any consequences) may still recover against the employer without having to show that the employer is at fault for the supervisor's actions.

 

Faragher v. City of Boca Raton (1998):
The Court determines that an employer may be liable for sexual discrimination caused by a supervisor. However. That liability is predicated upon on the reasonableness of the employer's conduct, along with the reasonableness of the plaintiff victim's conduct.

 

Murphy v. United Parcel Service, Inc. (1999):
In this case, the Supreme Court set forth how to determine whether an impairment "substantially limits" a major life activity under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

 

Sutton v. United Airlines, Inc. (1999):
The Supreme Court clarifies the definition of "disabled" under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

 

Lawrence v. Texas (2003):
The Supreme Court holds that a Texas statute criminalizing same-sex conduct is unconstitutional.

 

Grutter v. Bollinger (2003):
In this case, the Supreme Court determines that a law school's limited "affirmative action" use of race in admissions is constitutional.