Worst Supreme Court Decisions

[A18]

Add the Slaughterhouse Cases.

After doing some research, it appears that the privileges or immunities clause of the 14th amendment was understood to make the "first eight amendments" to the Constitution of the United States enforceable against the states.

I have rejected this view in the past on the grounds that it would make the due process clause an absurd redundancy. It thus seemed that incorporation must not have not been the intention of the framers of the privileges or immunities clause. However, I have to change my opinion now.

The Supreme Court, in Dred Scott, labeled the provisions of the Bill of Rights "rights and privileges of the citizen."

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=60&invol=393

"The powers of the Government and the rights and privileges of the citizen are regulated and plainly defined by the Constitution itself."

"The words 'people of the United States' and 'citizens' are synonymous terms, and mean the same thing. They both describe the political body who, according to our republican institutions, form the sovereignty, and who hold the power and conduct the Government through their representatives."

The due process clause, it seems, is listed after the privileges or immunities clause in order to emphasize the fact that this right is a right of personhood itself, and not citizenship (...abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States). In this way, it extends due process to aliens.

Thus, substantive due process should be overturned, but incorporation should be extended to all the rights and privileges enumerated in the Bill of Rights.

[Brandon H]

Dred Scott vs. Sanford
Roe v. Wade
Decided who is a person and who is not.

Kelo vs. New London
Violation of the 5th Amendment

MGM vs. Grokster
(ok, not really among the worst, and only techies will really care about it. But it favors the entertainment industry over the tech industry.)

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Dred Scott
Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific
Plessy vs. Fergueson
Bush vs. Gore

[RBH]

Buck v. Bell (look it up)

[Emsworth]

Kelo vs. New London
Violation of the 5th Amendment

I would argue that the Fifth Amendment does not apply to the states.

[True Democrat]

Worst Recent one: Kelo vs. City of New London

One of the worst of all time: Dred Scott

[Emsworth]

Dred Scott did not 'escape' to a free state, he was taken to a free state. The court ruled that once he returned to Missouri, Missouri law alone applied.

That is fine. But the court went much further than that. They ruled that (A) the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional...

It was, incidentally, the first case in which the Supreme Court overturned a federal law after Marbury v. Madison.

[7,052,770]

Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier

[Emsworth]

Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier

Civil libertarian as I am, that's actually an opinion I agree with. Schools should be allowed to control the content of official school newspapers.

[jokerman]

Bush v Gore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Worst decision of all time!

[Emsworth]

Bush v Gore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Worst decision of all time!

I believe that the decision (except for two very minor details) was absolutely correct. It's not as bad or unsound as most people seem to feel.

[A18]

Abrams v. United States (first amendment ignored)
Lochner v. New York (substantive due process)
Coleman v. Miller (right to bear arms is not qualified by mere statement of a fact)

[nini2287]

Bush v Gore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Worst decision of all time!

I believe that the decision (except for two very minor details) was absolutely correct. It's not as bad or unsound as most people seem to feel.

I agree the decision was constitutionally sound although you and I might disagree with the result.

[The Duke]

Cases already mentioned that I also think were among the worst:

Plessy v. Ferguson
Korematsu v. United States
Roe v. Wade
Furman v. Georgia
Planned Parenthood v. Casey
Kelo v. City of New London


Cases not yet mentioned that I think are among the worst:

Mapp v. Ohio
Griswold v. Connecticut
Miranda v. Arizona
Eisenstadt v. Baird
Doe v. Bolton

[The Duke]

Furman v. Georgia, since overturned (though there is another reason I pick that aside from being a bad decision). The school busing ones were terrible, I don't know all of them.

Plessy was actually a pretty good decision legally, given the existing precedent and law they were drawing upon. It did mandate equality in educational quality, though of course that was not followed until the 50s when it was too late.

You would be right is de jure laws were all that mattered.  I think de facto laws should matter as well, and the de facto outcome of Jim Crow was not to create two seperate but otherwise equal systems, but to create one system clearly superior to the other for purposes of discrimination even if the de jure standard set up by Plessy says the accomodations should be equal.

[AuH2O]

Ah, but that system emerged after the ruling contrary to at least the written intent of the Court.

The Supreme Court has no actual enforcement powers-- it relies on the Executive generally (whether in DC or at the state level).

So the decision, in my opinion, cannot be considered one of the worst "of all time" because it was not followed voluntarily nor enforced. As the justices saw their role, at least, it was up to them to explain the law and others to enforce it.

Later, worse decisions (such as Furman) got around this by explicity instructing the Executive and Legislative branches, who were unable or unwilling to resist for political reasons.

[nclib]

Most of mine have already been mentioned, but also:

Ingraham vs. Wright

[King]

Korematsu v. United States
Kelo v. New London


I disagree that Bush v. Gore was a bad ruling.  It just didn't help Gore and that really isn't unconstitutional unless I missed an amendment.

[Ebowed]

Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier

Civil libertarian as I am, that's actually an opinion I agree with. Schools should be allowed to control the content of official school newspapers.

Why?

[Gabu]

I disagree that Bush v. Gore was a bad ruling.  It just didn't help Gore and that really isn't unconstitutional unless I missed an amendment.

You must have missed this one:

AMENDMENT XXVIII

GORE IS PRESIDENT KTHX

[Emsworth]

Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier

Civil libertarian as I am, that's actually an opinion I agree with. Schools should be allowed to control the content of official school newspapers.

Why?

Simply because a school newspaper belong to the school. If the students wish to exercise their free speech rights, they can do so in their own newspapers. The school newspaper does not exist for the purpose of student expression, but to aid a journalism class.

[The Duke]

I disagree that Bush v. Gore was a bad ruling.  It just didn't help Gore and that really isn't unconstitutional unless I missed an amendment.

You must have missed this one:

AMENDMENT XXVIII

GORE IS PRESIDENT KTHX

ROFL

[??????????]

Cases not yet mentioned that I think are among the worst:

Miranda v. Arizona

I was hoping someone would mention that one! I agree of course.

[dazzleman]

Cases not yet mentioned that I think are among the worst:

Miranda v. Arizona

I was hoping someone would mention that one! I agree of course.

^^^^^^^

[Emsworth]

Cases not yet mentioned that I think are among the worst:

Miranda v. Arizona

I was hoping someone would mention that one! I agree of course.

I, on the contrary, feel that Miranda was an excellent decision. Same for Mapp v. Ohio.