This is a partial chronological list of cases decided by the United States Supreme Court during the tenures of Chief Justices John Jay (October 19, 1789 – June 29, 1795), John Rutledge (August 12, 1795 – December 28, 1795), and Oliver Ellsworth (March 8, 1796 – December 15, 1800), respectively the Jay, Rutledge, and Ellsworth Courts.
| Case name | Citation | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Beginning of active duty of Chief Justice John Jay, October 19, 1789 | ||
| Van Staphorst v. Maryland | (1791) | first docketed case of the Supreme Court, settled before arguments |
| West v. Barnes | first decision of the Supreme Court, strictly interpreting procedural filing requirements mandated by statute | |
| Georgia v. Brailsford | A State may sue in the Supreme Court to enjoin payment of a judgment on foreign debt until it can be ascertained to whom the money belongs | |
| Hayburn's Case | justiciability and separation of powers | |
| Georgia v. Brailsford | suits in which states may be a party; continuation of Georgia v. Brailsford (1792) | |
| Chisholm v. Georgia | first “major” case; federal jurisdiction over suits vs. states; state sovereign immunity; led to Eleventh Amendment | |
| Georgia v. Brailsford | first jury trial in the Supreme Court; conclusion of Georgia v. Brailsford (1792) | |
| United States v. Todd | (1794) | Case regarding invalid pension of a Revolutionary War veteran. The case was initially unpublished, a note paraphrasing the case was appended to the opinion in . A transcript of the records of the case is published in Washington and Lee Law Review. |
| Case name | Citation | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Beginning of active duty of Chief Justice John Rutledge, August 12, 1795 | ||
| United States v. Peters | Federal district court has no authority over a foreign privateer when the captured ship was not within its jurisdiction. | |
| Talbot v. Janson | United States citizens did not waive all claims to U.S. citizenship by either renouncing citizenship of an individual state or by becoming a citizen of another country. | |
| Case name | Citation | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Beginning of active duty of Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth, March 8, 1796 | ||
| Hylton v. United States | tax on carriages | |
| Hollingsworth v. Virginia | ratification of Eleventh Amendment, presidential approval is unnecessary for Constitutional amendment | |
| Calder v. Bull | ex post facto clause applies to criminal, not civil cases | |
| New York v. Connecticut | 4 U.S. 1 (1799) | first original jurisdiction suit between two States |