SCHS: Court History — Rosette Detail

Significant Oral Arguments: The Burger Court

In 1996, the Supreme Court Historical Society appointed an Ad Hoc Committee of distinguished legal scholars and Supreme Court practitioners to determine the most significant oral arguments heard by the Supreme Court from 1955 until 1993. The Committee was asked to pick not only important cases, but also examples of effective appellate advocacy. Ultimately the Committee selected 411 cases; 130 from the Warren Court era, 160 from the Burger Court Era and 121 from the first seven years of the Rehnquist Court.

396 U.S. 19 (1969) Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education
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397 U.S. 150 (1970) Association of Data Processing Organizations v. Camp
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399 U.S. 42 (1970) Chambers v. Maroney
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397 U.S. 471 (1970) Dandridge v. Williams
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396 U.S. 435 (1970) Evans v. Abney
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397 U.S. 254 (1970) Goldberg v. Kelly
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400 U.S. 112 (1970) Oregon v. Mitchell, Texas v. Mitchell, United States v. Arizona, United States v. Idaho
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397 U.S. 664 (1970) Walz v. Tax Commission of the City of New York
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398 U.S. 333 (1970) Welsh v. United States
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399 U.S. 78 (1970) Williams v. Florida
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397 U.S. 358 (1970) In re Winship
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401 U.S. 23 (1971) In Re Stolar to the Supreme Court of Ohio
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403 U.S. 388 (1971) Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics
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401 U.S. 371 (1971) Boddie v. Connecticut
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403 U.S. 443 (1971) Coolidge v. New Hampshire
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403 U.S. 365 (1971) Graham v. Richardson
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402 U.S. 99, 91 S. Ct. 1319 (1971) Ehlert v. United States
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403 U.S. 88 (1971) Griffin v. Breckenridge
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401 U.S. 424 (1971) Griggs v. Duke Power Co.
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403 U.S. 602 (1971) Lemon v. Kurtzman
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403 U.S. 15 (1971) Cohen v. California
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403 U.S. 713 (1971) New York Times Co. v. United States, United States v. Washington Post The
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403 U.S. 217 (1971) Palmer v. Thompson
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404 U.S. 71 (1971) Reed v. Reed
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403 U.S. 29 (1971) Rosenbloom v. Metromedia Inc.
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402 U.S. 1 (1971) Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Board of Education
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406 U.S. 404 (1972) Apodaca v. Oregon
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407 U.S. 25 (1972) Argersinger v. Hamlin
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408 U.S. 238 (1972) Furman v. Georgia, Branch v. Texas, Jackson v. Georgia
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408 U.S. 665 (1972) Branzburg v. Hayes, Pappas In re, United States v. Caldwell, Caldwell v. U.S.
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412 U.S. 94 (1973) Columbia Broadcasting System Inc. v. Democratic National Committee
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405 U.S. 330 (1972) Dunn v. Blumstein
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405 U.S. 438 (1972) Eisenstadt v. Baird
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407 U.S. 67 (1972) Fuentes v. Shevin
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408 U.S. 606 (1972) Gravel v. United States
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408 U.S. 1 (1972) Laird v. Tatum
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407 U.S. 551 (1972) Lloyd Corporation Ltd. v. Tanner
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408 U.S. 593 (1972) Perry v. Sindermann
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405 U.S. 727 (1972) Sierra Club v. Morton
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406 U.S. 205 (1972) Wisconsin v. Yoder
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413 U.S. 756 (1973) Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Nyquist
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410 U.S. 179 (1973) Doe v. Bolton
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411 U.S. 677 (1973) Frontiero v. Richardson
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413 U.S. 189 (1973) Keyes v. Denver School District
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411 U.S. 792 (1973) McDonnell Douglas Corporation v. Green
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413 U.S. 15 (1973) Miller v. California
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412 U.S. 92 (1973) Richmond School Board v. Virginia State Board of Education
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410 U.S. 113 (1973) Roe v. Wade
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411 U.S. 1 (1973) San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez
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412 U.S. 218 (1973) Schneckloth v. Bustamonte
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412 U.S. 669 (1973) United States v. SCRAP
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416 U.S. 312 (1974) DeFunis v. Odegaard
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415 U.S. 651 (1974) Edelman v. Jordan
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417 U.S. 484 (1974) Geduldig v. Aiello
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418 U.S. 323 (1974) Gertz v. Robert Welch Inc.
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418 U.S. 241 (1974) Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo
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418 U.S. 717 (1974) Milliken v. Bradley
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417 U.S. 843 (1974) Saxbe v. Washington Post Co.
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416 U.S. 232 (1974) Scheuer v. Rhodes
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418 U.S. 208 (1974) Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee to Stop the War
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418 U.S. 683 (1974) United States v. Nixon
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416 U.S. 1 (1974) Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, Belle Terre v. Boraas
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425 U.S. 682 (1975) Alfred Dunhill of London, Inc. v. The Republic of Cuba
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421 U.S. 809 (1975) Bigelow v. Virginia
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420 U.S. 469 (1975) Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn
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421 U.S. 773 (1975) Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar
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419 U.S. 565 (1975) Goss v. Lopez
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419 U.S. 522 (1975) Taylor v. Louisiana
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422 U.S. 490 (1975) Warth v. Seldin
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420 U.S. 636 (1975) Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld
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424 U.S. 1 (1976) Buckley v. Valeo
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426 U.S. 833 (1976) National League of Cities v. Usery, California v. Usery
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429 U.S. 190 (1976) Craig v. Boren
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427 U.S. 347 (1976) Elrod v. Burns
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428 U.S. 153 (1976) Gregg v. Georgia
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427 U.S. 539 (1976) Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart
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427 U.S. 424 (1976) Pasadena City Board of Education v. Spangler
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438 U.S. 265 (1976) Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
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425 U.S. 748 (1976) Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council Inc.
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426 U.S. 229 (1976) Washington v. Davis
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429 U.S. 252 (1977) Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp
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433 U.S. 350 (1977) Bates v. Arizona State Bar
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430 U.S. 274 (1977) Complete Auto Transit Inc. v. Brady
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430 U.S. 651 (1977) Ingraham v. Wright
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432 U.S. 464 (1977) Maher v. Roe
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433 U.S. 267 (1977) Milliken v. Bradley
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431 U.S. 494 (1977) Moore v. City of East Cleveland
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433 U.S. 425 (1977) Nixon v. Administrator General Services Administration
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430 U.S. 144 (1977) United Jewish Organization of Williamsburgh v. Carey
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433 U.S. 72 (1977) Wainwright v. Sykes
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438 U.S. 234 (1978) Allied Structural Steel Co. Spannaus
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438 U.S. 478 (1978) Butz v. Economou
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438 U.S. 726 (1978) Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation
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435 U.S. 765 (1978) First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti
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436 U.S. 658 (1978) Monell v. Department of Social Services City of New York
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435 U.S. 589 (1978) Nixon v. Warner Communications Inc. et al.
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438 U.S. 104 (1978) Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City
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437 U.S. 617 (1978) Philadelphia v. New Jersey
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437 U.S. 153 (1978) Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill
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436 U.S. 547 (1978) Zurcher v. The Stanford Daily
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443 U.S. 526 (1979) Columbus (Ohio) Board of Education v. Penick, Dayton (Ohio) Board of Education v. Brinkman
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440 U.S. 648 (1979) Delaware v. Prouse
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441 U.S. 153 (1979) Herbert v. Lando
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443 U.S. 595 (1979) JONES v. WOLF
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442 U.S. 256 (1979) Personnel Admin. of the Com. of Massachusetts v. Feeney
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443 U.S. 193 (1979) United States v. Weber, United Steelworkers of America v. Weber
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447 U.S. 557 (1980) Central Hudson Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Service Commission of New York
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448 U.S. 448 (1980) Fullilove v. Klutznick
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448 U.S. 297, 100 S.Ct. 2671 (1980) Harris v. McRae
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448 U.S. 555 (1980) Richmond Newspapers v. Commonwealth of Virginia
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446 U.S. 291 (1980) Rhode Island v. Innis
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449 U.S. 200 (1980) United States v. Will
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453 U.S. 654 (1981) Dames & Moore v. Regan
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453 U.S. 490 (1981) Metromedia Inc. v. City of San Diego
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450 U.S. 464 (1981) Michael M. v. Superior Court of Sonoma Country
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451 U.S. 1, 101 S.Ct. 1531 (1981) Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman, Mayor of city of Philadelphia v. Halderman, Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens v. Penhurst State School and Hospital, Commissioners and Mental Health/Mental Retardation Administrators for Bucks County v. Halderman, Pennhurst Parents-Staff Association v. Halderman
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453 U.S. 57 (1981) Rostker v. Goldberg
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454 U.S. 263 (1981) Widmar v. Vincent
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458 U.S. 527 (1982) Crawford v. Los Angeles Board of Education
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457 U.S. 596 (1982) Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court
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457 U.S. 800 (1982) Harlow v. Fitzgerald
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458 U.S. 886 (1982) NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co.
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459 U.S. 116 (1982) Larkin v. Grendel’s Den
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457 U.S. 731 (1982) Nixon v. Fitzgerald
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458 U.S. 50 (1982) Northern Pipe Line Construction Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co, United States v. Marathon Pipe Line Co.
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457 U.S. 202 (1982) Plyler v. Doe, Texas v. Certain Named and Unnamed Undocumented Alien Children
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457 U.S. 1 (1982) RODRIGUEZ v. POPULAR DEMOCRATIC PARTY
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458 U.S. 457 (1982) Washington v. Seattle School Dist. #1
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461 U.S. 574 (1983) Bob Jones University v. United States, Goldsboro Christian Schools v. United States
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461 U.S. 95 (1983) City of Los Angeles v. Lyons
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462 U.S. 919 (1983) Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha, United States House of Representatives v. Chadha
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463 U.S. 783 (1983) Marsh v. Chambers
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463 U.S. 1032 (1983) Michigan v. Long
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464 U.S. 238 (1983) Silwood v. Kerr McGee
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465 U.S. 886 (1984) Blum v. Stenson
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468 U.S. 288 (1984) Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence
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468 U.S. 364 (1984) Federal Communications Commission v. League of Women Voters of California
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467 U.S. 561 (1984) Firefighters Local Union #1784 v. Stotts
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467 U.S. 229 (1984) Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff
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467 U.S. 69 (1984) Hishon v. King & Spalding
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465 U.S. 668 (1984) Lynch v. Donnelly
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468 U.S. 222 (1984) Regan v. Wald
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466 U.S. 668 (1984) Strickland v. Washington
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468 U.S. 897, 104 S.Ct. 3405 (1984) United States v. Leon
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470 U.S. 68 (1985) Ake v. Oklahoma
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473 U.S. 432 (1985) City of Cleburn Texas v. Cleburne Living Center
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469 U.S. 528 (1985) Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority
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473 U.S. 373, 105 S.Ct. 3216 (1985) Grand Rapids School District v. Ball
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469 U.S. 325 (1985) New Jersey v. T.L.O.
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470 U.S. 274 (1985) Supreme Court of New Hampshire v. Piper
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472 U.S. 38 (1985) Wallace v. Jaffree
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476 U.S. 79 (1986) Batson v. Kentucky
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478 U.S. 186 (1986) Bowers v. Hardwick
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478 U.S. 714 (1986) Bowsher v. Synar, O’Neill v. Synar, Senate v. Synar, United States Senate v. Synar
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476 U.S. 207 (1986) California v. Ciraolo
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475 U.S. 41 (1986) City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres Inc.
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477 U.S. 57 (1986) Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson
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478 U.S. 328 (1986) Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Council of Puerto Rico
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478 U.S. 30 (1986) Thornburg v. Gingles
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476 U.S. 267 (1986) Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education
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