Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote the opinion of the Court in four of the five cases below, on the reach of Congress's commerce power, assisted suicide, Miranda and family leave. The fifth is a dissent, in the flag-burning case. They span 1989 to 2003.
A limit on the commerce power
United States v. Lopez (1995), decided April 26, 1995. A 12th-grade student carried a concealed handgun into his high school and was charged under the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, which forbids knowingly possessing a firearm at a place one knows is a school zone. The Court held that the Act exceeds Congress's authority under the Commerce Clause. The Court accepted that it had upheld a wide variety of congressional Acts regulating commerce, but held that this one went beyond that authority.
Assisted suicide and due process
Washington v. Glucksberg (1997), decided June 26, 1997. Washington made it a felony to knowingly cause or aid another person to attempt suicide, punishable by up to five years in prison. The Court held that the law did not violate the Due Process Clause. Rehnquist's opinion found that "Anglo-American common law has punished or otherwise disapproved of assisting suicide for over 700 years." It asked first whether a claimed liberty is among those "objectively, deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition," and second for a careful description of the asserted right.
Miranda stays
Dickerson v. United States (2000), decided June 26, 2000. Congress had enacted a statute, 18 U.S.C. §3501, making voluntariness the test for admitting a confession. The Court held that Miranda v. Arizona (1966), "being a constitutional decision of this Court, may not be in effect overruled by an Act of Congress." Rehnquist wrote that "that Miranda announced a constitutional rule is demonstrated, first and foremost, by the fact that both Miranda and two of its companion cases applied its rule to proceedings in state courts."
Family leave
Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs (2003), decided May 27, 2003. An employee of the Nevada Department of Human Resources sought leave to care for his ailing wife under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which entitles an eligible employee to take up to 12 work weeks of unpaid leave annually for a serious health condition in the family. The Court held that state employees may recover money damages in federal court if the State fails to comply with the Act's family-care provision. The Court held that Congress may abrogate the States' Eleventh Amendment immunity from suit in federal court if it makes its intention to do so unmistakably clear in the statute.
The flag, in dissent
Texas v. Johnson (1989), decided June 21, 1989. The Court held, in an opinion by Justice Brennan, that burning a flag in political protest was protected by the First Amendment. Rehnquist dissented, joined by Justices White and O'Connor. "The flag is not simply another 'idea' or 'point of view' competing for recognition in the marketplace of ideas. Millions and millions of Americans regard it with an almost mystical reverence."
What the five opinions show
Three of the majority opinions (Lopez, Dickerson and Hibbs) are about the limits of Congress's power. Lopez found one, Dickerson found that Congress could not overrule a constitutional decision, and Hibbs found that Congress had acted within its power. Glucksberg is a due process case, and Johnson shows what he said when he did not carry the Court.
Sources
- United States v. Lopez (1995), 514 U.S. 549: Library of Congress, U.S. Reports
- Washington v. Glucksberg (1997), 521 U.S. 702: Library of Congress, U.S. Reports
- Dickerson v. United States (2000), 530 U.S. 428: Library of Congress, U.S. Reports
- Miranda v. Arizona (1966), 384 U.S. 436: Library of Congress, U.S. Reports
- Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs (2003), 538 U.S. 721: Library of Congress, U.S. Reports
- Texas v. Johnson (1989), 491 U.S. 397: Library of Congress, U.S. Reports
Updated November 2026.
This post was rewritten with AI (Claude) and reviewed by an editor before publication.
