Missouri v. Holland, 252 U.S. 416; 40 S. Ct. 382; 64 L. Ed. 641 (1920) Facts—The United States entered into a treaty with Great Britain to protect migratory birds. In the treaty was a provision that each of the contracting…

Head Money Cases (Edye v. Robertson), 112 U.S. 580; 5 S. Ct. 247; 28 L. Ed. 798 (1884) Facts—In 1882 Congress passed an act providing that a duty of fifty cents should be collected for each and every passenger who…

Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417; 118 S. Ct. 2091; 141 L. Ed. 2d 393 (1998) Facts—Congress adopted the Line Item Veto Act, which became effective in 1997. This act gave the president the powers to cancel…

Morrison v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654; 108 S. Ct. 2597; 101 L. Ed. 2d 569 (1988) Facts—The issue here is the constitutionality of the independent counsel provisions of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. It began as a controversy…

Bowsher v. Snyar, 478 U.S. 714; 106 S. Ct. 3181; 92 L. Ed. 2d 583 (1986) Facts—The Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (popularly known as the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) put a cap on the amount of federal…

Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919; 103 S. Ct. 2764; 77 L. Ed. 2d 317 (1983) Facts—Chadha, an alien, had been lawfully admitted to the United States. His visa expired and the INS—under the Immigration and Nationality…

United States v. Lovett, 328 U.S. 303; 66 S. Ct. 1073; 90 L. Ed. 1252 (1946) Facts—Lovett, Watson, and Dodd had been working for the government for several years, and the government agencies that had lawfully employed them were fully…

Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681; 117 S. Ct. 1636; 137 L. Ed. 2d 945 (1997) Facts—Paula Corbin Jones brought suit against President Bill Clinton for “‘abhorrent’ sexual advances” that he allegedly made to her in a motel when he…

Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 731; 102 S. Ct. 2690; 73 L. Ed. 2d 349 (1982) Facts—Fitzgerald lost his job as a management analyst with the Air Force during the Nixon presidency after Fitzgerald was involved in a public hearing…