Finally, Sandefur asks what "The Canon" should be.

Here goes, my top ten Supreme Court cases:

1. Marbury v. Madison
2. Dred Scott
3. Plessy v. Ferguson
4. The Slaughter House Cases
5. Brown v. Board of Education
6. Erie
7. Wickard v. Filburn
8. Texas v. Johnson
9. Printz v. US
10. (tie) Mapp v. Ohio and NY Times v. Sullivan

These are my top ten. It was surprisingly easy to pick them out; some because they were important legally, some politically, and one because it peripherally involved a young Don King. Of course, there are many that I would like to include, but I already cheated with the tie at number 10.

Marbury needs to be there, because of its importance in defining the role of the Court. Dred Scott stands as perhaps the single greatest travesty of legal reasoning, coupled with one of the finest dissents of all time. Plessy v. Ferguson contains to my mind the finest dissent ever (even better than Korematsu, which I wish I could have included). The Slaughter House Cases is important because it eviscerated the greatest protection provided by the 14th Amendment. Brown v. Board of Education is an example of a good result reached in a constitutionally weak way (directly related to The Slaughter House Cases).

Erie is important because it (allegedly) abolished federal common law, and provides the rule for determining what substantive law will apply in cases brought under a federal court's diversity jurisdiction. Wickard v. Filburn stands as a reminder that for a time every law passed by Congress was justifiable under the Commerce Clause through aggregation of effect. Texas v. Johnson is, I think, the definitive ruling on flag-burning, and contains not only a passionate lead opinion by Brennan defending flag-burners, but an equally affecting dissent by Justice Stevens, a decorated veteran, and a thought-provoking dissent by Rehnquist. Printz v. US is significant because it was part of the Commerce Clause revolution of the 1990s. And NY Times v. Sullivan is the establishment of the public figure exception to libel and slander.

Mapp v. Ohio is a very important 4th Amendment case, but it also is highly entertaining, because Don King is involved.

And that's my top ten. Honorable mentions include Korematsu, Roe v. Wade, Flood v. Kuhn, Lopez, Bowers v. Hardwick, and Harper's Lessee.