In the Dred Scott Case it was the opinion of the court that he was not entitled to the rights that were afforded to white citizens. This decison and the Fugitive Slave Law helped to perpetuate slavery in the southern states. Without the support of Congress and the Supreme Court the institution of slavery could not survive.
In the opinion of the Supreme Court case of Plessy v Ferguson the court ruled that segregation of the races was Constitutional.
In 1926 in the Buck v Bell case the court voted 8-1 that the states had a right to sterilization anyone that they felt was deemed be mentally, physically or morally unfit to reproduce.
In 1944 Koramatsu v United States the Supreme Court ruled by a 6 to 3 margin that the internment of the Japanese during World War II was not a violation of their Constitutional rights.
Affirmative ActionIn the 1973 case of Roe v Wade the court ruled by a margin of 7-2 that a woman had a Constitutional right to terminate the life of her unborn child. Since the topic of abortion was not an mentioned in the Constitution, the issue was outside of the courts jurisdiction.
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