Year Case Significance
1996 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island A Rhode Island statute violated the First Amendment by banning
advertisements containing liquor prices. A government’s regulation
of commercial speech must be narrowly tailored to achieve a
substantial state interest. If other means were available to achieve
the state’s temperance goal that did not restrict speech, then the
regulation was not narrowly tailored. Further, the state must show
that its goal was advanced to a material degree by the statute.
1996 Romer v. Evans The Court overrode a popular state initiative that discriminated against
a sexual minority. The amendment forbade local communities from
enacting any ordinance that conferred an entitlement to homosexuals
or lesbians. By a 6-3 vote, the Court upheld the equal protection
challenge by the sexual minorities, stating the initiative lacked a rational
relationship to a legitimate state interest in that it was “inexplicable by
anything but animus toward the class that it affects,” thus signifying that
some government action failed even this minimal “rational basis” test.
1996 Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida A 5-4 Court held that Congress cannot authorize suits by Indian tribes
against a state to enforce federal gaming legislation because the
Eleventh Amendment protected state sovereign immunity.
1996 Shaw v. Hunt A 5-4 decision held that a congressional redistricting plan designed to
achieve a majority race-based district to correct past discrimination
violates the equal protection clause because the government did not
show that the plan was narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state
interest.
1996 United States v. Virginia Citing the equal protection clause, the Court struck down the males-
only admissions policy of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), stating
gender-based classifications could not be upheld unless they are based
on “an exceedingly persuasive justification.” The Court ruled that
government could not perpetuate the inferiority of women. Unless a
rational, scientific basis of “real” difference existed between the genders,
states must treat women and men equally.
1996 Whren v. United States The Fourth Amendment allowed an officer, upon observing a minor
traffic offense, the discretion to decide whether to make a full arrest
and search of the vehicle, or to issue a citation.
1997 Abrams v. Johnson Congressional district boundaries must reflect the population in the
area and cannot not be drawn to maximize voting power for minority
groups.
1997 City of Boerne v. Flores The Court ruled that Congress exceeded its Fourteenth Amendment
enforcement powers by enacting the Religious Freedom Restoration Act
(RFRA) that created a test to protect the free exercise of religion from
generally applicable law boundaries that had been established by the
Court.
1997 Clinton v. Jones A president’s executive privilege to keep certain documents confidential
did not apply in grand jury proceedings when the papers were relevant
to guilt or innocence.
994 Legislation: U.S. Supreme Court Decisions The Nineties in America