The Rehnquist Court issued several notable rulings touching on many aspects of American life. Landmark cases of the Rehnquist Court include: •
Texas v. Johnson (1989): In a 5–4 decision written by Justice Brennan, the Court struck down a state law that prevented the burning of the
American flag. The court held that the act of burning the flag is protected speech under the
First Amendment. In a subsequent case,
United States v. Eichman (1990), the court struck down a similar federal statute. •
Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992): In a
plurality opinion jointly written by Justices O'Connor, Kennedy, and Souter, the court upheld the constitutional right to have an
abortion established in
Roe v. Wade (1973). However,
Casey replaced the
strict scrutiny standard of
judicial review set out in
Roe with the less stringent
undue burden standard, giving states more leeway in placing restrictions on abortion (e.g. states can require a 24-hour waiting period). Both
Roe and
Casey were later overturned by ''
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'' (2022). •
United States v. Lopez (1995): In a 5–4 decision written by Justice Rehnquist, the court struck down the
Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 as an unconstitutional extension of Congressional power. Notably, this case marked the first time since the advent of the
New Deal that the court struck down a law based on the
Commerce Clause. The law in question made it a federal crime to have a handgun near or in a school, and the Court held that possession of a handgun is not an economic activity and does not have a substantial effect on
interstate commerce. •
United States v. Morrison (2000): In a 5–4 decision written by Justice Rehnquist, the court struck down portions of the
Violence Against Women Act of 1994 as an unconstitutional extension of Congressional power. As in
Lopez, the court ruled that Congress had attempted to stretch the
Commerce Clause beyond its constitutional meaning, and it struck down the federal provision that allowed victims of gender-motivated violence to sue their attackers in federal court. •
Bush v. Gore (2000): In a
per curiam decision in which four justices dissented, the Supreme Court overruled the
Florida Supreme Court and halted a manual
recount of the
2000 presidential election ballots cast in Florida. The court ruled that the recount violated the
Equal Protection Clause as Florida lacked a statewide standard for recounting votes, and also ruled that no recount could possibly take place before the statutory "safe harbor" deadline. Without a recount, Republican
George W. Bush won Florida's electoral votes and the presidency. •
Grutter v. Bollinger (2003): In a 5–4 decision written by Justice O'Connor, the court upheld the
affirmative action admissions policy of the
University of Michigan Law School on the grounds that the law school had a compelling interest in promoting class diversity. The court held that schools could use race as a factor in admissions, so long as the school did not use a quota system, which had been held to be unconstitutional in
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978).
Grutter was effectively overturned by
Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023). •
Lawrence v. Texas (2003): In a 6–3 decision in which Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, the court invalidated several state
sodomy laws.
Lawrence overturned
Bowers v. Hardwick, a 1986 case in which the court had held that state laws criminalizing gay sexual acts were constitutional. In overturning
Bowers, the court ruled that intimate consensual sexual conduct was protected by
substantive due process under the
Fourteenth Amendment. •
McConnell v. FEC (2003): In a 5–4 decision written by Justices Stevens and O'Connor, the court upheld several provisions of the
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, including its restrictions on "
soft money." The court held that not all political speech is protected by the First Amendment, and that the government has a legitimate interest in preventing corruption and the appearance of corruption. The case was partially overturned by
Citizens United v. FEC (2010). ==Judicial philosophy==