This is a chronological list of significant cases decided by the United States Supreme Court during the tenure of Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller (October 8, 1888 through July 4, 1910).
| Case name | Citation | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Kidd v. Pearson | 128 U.S. 1 (1888) | Scope of the Commerce Clause |
| Dent v. West Virginia | 129 U.S. 114 (1889) | state licensing of doctors |
| Botiller v. Dominguez | 130 U.S. 238 (1889) | validity of Spanish and Mexican land grants within the Mexican Cession |
| Davis v. Beason | 133 U.S. 333 (1890) | United States federal courts have jurisdiction to hear charges related to polygamy even though it be part of a religious belief |
| Hans v. Louisiana | 134 U.S. 1 (1890) | sovereign immunity of states, interpreting the Eleventh Amendment |
| Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad v. Minnesota | 134 U.S. 418 (1890) | states and railway fees |
| In re Neagle | 135 U.S. 1 (1890) | authority of the U.S. Attorney General to appoint U.S. Marshals as bodyguards to Supreme Court Justices |
| LDS Church v. United States | 136 U.S. 1 (1890) | upheld revocation of LDS Church charter and confiscation of church property |
| In re Ross | 140 U.S. 453 (1891) | application of U.S. law to foreign sailors on U.S. flagged ships while in another country |
| Holy Trinity Church v. United States | 143 U.S. 457 (1892) | contracts with foreign citizens, religion |
| Illinois Central Railroad v. Illinois | 146 U.S. 387 (1892) | railroad land dispute, public trust doctrine |
| Nix v. Hedden | 149 U.S. 304 (1893) | status of the tomato as fruit or vegetable under Tariff Act of 1883 |
| Schillinger v. United States | 155 U.S. 163 (1894) | sovereign immunity forbids suit against the Federal government for patent infringement |
| United States v. E. C. Knight Co. | 156 U.S. 1 (1895) | antitrust action; “Sugar Trust Case” |
| Sparf v. United States | 156 U.S. 51 (1895) | jury instructions |
| Coffin v. United States | 156 U.S. 432 (1895) | the presumption of innocence |
| In re Debs | 158 U.S. 564 (1895) | strikes and interstate commerce |
| Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. | 158 U.S. 601 (1895) | income tax and tariffs |
| Hilton v. Guyot | 159 U.S. 113 (1895) | doctrine of comity |
| Rosen v. United States | 161 U.S. 29 (1896) | defendant's ability to inspect evidence at obscenity trial overcame objection that indictment was too vague |
| Geer v. Connecticut | 161 U.S. 519 (1896) | states owned the wild animals within their borders and can strictly regulate their management and harvest |
| Talton v. Mayes | 163 U.S. 376 (1896) | individual rights in U.S. Constitution not applicable to tribal governments |
| Plessy v. Ferguson | 163 U.S. 537 (1896) | segregation; "separate but equal" |
| United States v. Ball | 163 U.S. 662 (1896) | double jeopardy |
| Allgeyer v. Louisiana | 165 U.S. 578 (1897) | Freedom of contract |
| United States v. Trans-Missouri Freight Association | 166 U.S. 290 (1897) | railroads and rate fixing |
| Interstate Commerce Commission v. Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway Co. | 167 U.S. 479 (1897) | powers of an administrative agency |
| Barrett v. United States | 169 U.S. 218 (1898) | South Carolina had not been subdivided into separate federal judicial districts |
| Holden v. Hardy | 169 U.S. 366 (1898) | working hours of miners |
| United States v. Wong Kim Ark | 169 U.S. 649 (1898) | citizenship and race |
| Hawker v. New York | 170 U.S. 189 (1898) | character and doctor’s licenses |
| Williams v. Mississippi | 170 U.S. 213 (1898) | literacy tests |
| Brown v. New Jersey | 175 U.S. 172 (1899) | use of a struck jury |
| Malony v. Adsit | 175 U.S. 281 (1899) | trial judge must authenticate bill of exceptions |
| Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Education | 175 U.S. 528 (1899) | segregation in public schools |
| The Paquete Habana | 175 U.S. 677 (1900) | prize in admiralty law and customary international law |
| Marks v. Shoup | 181 U.S. 562 (1901) | Property issues |
| Insular Cases | ||
| DeLima v. Bidwell | 182 U.S. 1 (1901) | constitutional status of Puerto Rico and the Philippines |
| Goetze v. United States | 182 U.S. 221 (1901) | |
| Armstrong v. United States | 182 U.S. 243 (1901) | |
| Downes v. Bidwell | 182 U.S. 244 (1901) | |
| Huus v. New York & Porto Rico S.S. Co. | 182 U.S. 392 (1901) | |
| Dooley v. United States | 183 U.S. 151 (1901) | |
| Fourteen Diamond Rings v. United States | 183 U.S. 176 (1901) | |
| Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock | 187 U.S. 553 (1903) | power of Congress to abrogate treaties with Native American tribes |
| Bleistein v. Donaldson Lithographing Company | 188 U.S. 239 (1903) | copyright protection of illustrations made for advertisements |
| Champion v. Ames | 188 U.S. 321 (1903) | Congressional Commerce Clause regulation of lottery tickets |
| Giles v. Harris | 189 U.S. 475 (1903) | voting rights, Eleventh Amendment |
| Hawaii v. Manikichi | 190 U.S. 197 (1903) | sometimes considered one of the Insular Cases |
| Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railway Company of Texas v. Clay May | 194 U.S. 267 (1904) | 14th Amendment permits law which penalizes railroads for allowing weeds to grow |
| Kepner v. United States | 195 U.S. 100 (1904) | sometimes considered one of the Insular Cases |
| Dorr v. United States | 195 U.S. 138 (1904) | sometimes considered one of the Insular Cases |
| Gonzales v. Williams | 192 U.S. 1 (1904) | Puerto Ricans and illegal aliens |
| Northern Securities Co. v. United States | 193 U.S. 197 (1904) | Antitrust, application of the Sherman Antitrust Act |
| Swift & Co. v. United States | 196 U.S. 375 (1905) | Commerce Clause, to regulate monopolies |
| Rasmussen v. United States | 197 U.S. 516 (1905) | sometimes considered one of the Insular Cases |
| Lochner v. New York | 198 U.S. 45 (1905) | freedom of contract, substantive due process |
| Harris v. Balk | 198 U.S. 215 (1905) | quasi in rem jurisdiction |
| Chicago Board of Trade v. Christie Grain | 198 U.S. 236 (1905) | upholding power of Chicago Board of Trade to regulate futures contracts |
| Hale v. Henkel | 201 U.S. 43 (1906) | witness testimony in antitrust cases |
| Northwestern National Life Insurance Co. v. Riggs | 203 U.S. 243 (1906) | upheld power of states to regulate insurance contracts against Fourteenth Amendment challenge |
| United States v. Shipp | 203 U.S. 563 (1906) | Only criminal trial in the court's history. Lynching. |
| Adair v. United States | 208 U.S. 161 (1908) | "Yellow Dog contract" |
| Loewe v. Lawlor | 208 U.S. 274 (1908) | Sherman Antitrust Act applied against labor union boycott |
| Muller v. Oregon | 208 U.S. 412 (1908) | protective labor laws, protection of women |
| White-Smith Music Publishing Company v. Apollo Company | 209 U.S. 1 (1908) | manufacturers of player pianos need not pay royalties to copyright holders of music |
| Ex parte Young | 209 U.S. 123 (1908) | exception to sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment |
| Ware & Leland v. Mobile County | 209 U.S. 405 (1908) | contracts for the sales of cotton for future delivery that do not oblige interstate shipments are not subjects of interstate commerce, and are taxable by states |
| Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus | 210 U.S. 339 (1908) | First-sale doctrine, copyright holder cannot control resale prices by use of licenses |
| Londoner v. City and County of Denver | 210 U.S. 373 (1908) | role of due process in administrative rulemaking |
| Continental Paper Bag Co. v. Eastern Paper Bag Co. | 210 U.S. 405 (1908) | patent and antitrust |
| Berea College v. Kentucky | 211 U.S. 45 (1908) | state laws and segregation of educational facilities |
| Twining v. New Jersey | 211 U.S. 78 (1908) | Fifth Amendment does not apply to state trials |
| Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co. v. Mottley | 211 U.S. 149 (1908) | federal question jurisdiction, the "well-pleaded complaint rule" |
| Bailey v. Alabama | 211 U.S. 452 (1908) | peonage laws and the Thirteenth Amendment |
| Moyer v. Peabody | 212 U.S. 78 (1909) | citizens' rights during insurrection |
| Welch v. Swasey | 214 U.S. 91 (1909) | Massachusetts' statute restricting building heights is constitutional |
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