In Harris v. Forklift Systems, the Supreme Court ruled that workers charging sexual harassment need not prove inability to perform their tasks or psychological damage, instead applying the rule of “workplace equity.”
Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789, which established the federal court system and the position of attorney general. The Supreme Court had already been established by the Constitution but the creation of a lower federal court system had been left to Congress.
The Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision denied the citizenship of African Americans and the right of the federal government to control slavery in US territories. In 1846, Missouri slave Dred Scott had sued for his freedom. Scott argued that while he had been the slave of an army surgeon, he had lived for four years in Illinois, a free state, and Wisconsin, a free territory, and that his residence on free soil had erased his slave status. In 1850 a Missouri court gave Scott his freedom, but two years later, the Missouri supreme...
In a speech at Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln denounced the Supreme Court’s decision in Dred Scott v. Sanford, declaring it “erroneous” and vowing that “we shall do what we can to have [the Supreme Court] over-rule this.”
In Thelma Stanton v. James Stanton, the Supreme Court invalidated a Utah law requiring that child support be paid until age 21 for a son but only to age 18 for a daughter.
Samuel Chase (1741–1811) was a delegate to the Continental Congress (1774–1778) and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Though he opposed ratification, Chase was largely responsible for drafting clauses protecting trial by jury and freedom of the press. In 1796 he was appointed justice of the Supreme Court by Washington. Eight years later he was impeached at the behest of Thomas Jefferson, the Republican president, after Chase, a Federalist, spoke out against democratic “mobocracy” from the bench. Chase was not convicted, however,...
John Marshall (1755–1835) was born in Virginia, far from the wealthy tobacco and slave Tidewater region of the state. During the Revolution, he led a company of riflemen and spent the terrible winter of 1777 at Valley Forge. Out of his Revolutionary War experiences, Marshall became a staunch nationalist who distrusted state governments, which, he believed, had failed to support the soldiers. When Marshall became the nation’s fourth chief justice of the Supreme Court in 1801, the Court lacked prestige and public...
Dred Scott (1795–1858) was a Missouri slave who sued for his freedom in 1846. While the slave of an Army surgeon, Scott had lived in the free state of Illinois and the free territory of Wisconsin. Scott claimed that his residence on free soil had erased his slave status. In 1850 a Missouri court gave Scott his freedom, but two years later the Missouri supreme court reversed this decision and returned Scott to slavery. He appealed to the US Supreme Court, which ruled against him in 1857. After the decision, Scott's owner freed him and Scott...
