Cohens v. Virginia

E80859

United States Supreme Court case landmark Supreme Court case

Cohens v. Virginia is an 1821 U.S. Supreme Court case that affirmed the Court’s authority to review state criminal proceedings involving federal law, strengthening federal judicial power over the states.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form	Occurrences
Philip J. Cohen and Mendes J. Cohen v. The Commonwealth of Virginia	1

Statements (43)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Supreme Court case ⓘ landmark Supreme Court case ⓘ
areaOfLaw	constitutional law ⓘ criminal procedure ⓘ federal courts ⓘ
chiefJusticeAtTime	John Marshall ⓘ
citation	19 U.S. (6 Wheat.) 264 ⓘ
clarified	scope of Supreme Court appellate jurisdiction under Article III ⓘ
consideredLandmarkFor	development of American federalism ⓘ expansion of Supreme Court appellate power over states ⓘ
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted	Article III of the United States Constitution ⓘ Supremacy Clause ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
courtTerm	1821 term ⓘ
decisionDate	1821-03-03 ⓘ
followedDoctrineOf	judicial review established in Marbury v. Madison ⓘ
fullCaseName	Cohens v. Virginia self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Philip J. Cohen and Mendes J. Cohen v. The Commonwealth of Virginia
hasJurisdiction	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
holding	Congress may authorize Supreme Court review of state court decisions in criminal as well as civil cases involving federal questions ⓘ State courts are not the final arbiters of federal law when the U.S. Supreme Court has jurisdiction ⓘ The U.S. Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction to review state criminal judgments that involve federal law or the U.S. Constitution ⓘ
involved	conflict between a federal lottery statute and Virginia state law ⓘ lottery ticket sales in the District of Columbia ⓘ
jurisdictionBasis	federal question jurisdiction ⓘ
legalIssue	Supreme Court appellate jurisdiction over state court decisions ⓘ conflict between state law and federal law ⓘ federal judicial review of state criminal proceedings ⓘ interpretation of Article III of the U.S. Constitution ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy	John Marshall ⓘ
petitioner	Mendes J. Cohen ⓘ Philip J. Cohen ⓘ
precededBy	Martin v. Hunter's Lessee ⓘ
reinforcedPrinciple	Supreme Court as final arbiter of federal law ⓘ federal law supremacy over conflicting state law ⓘ
relatedTo	Supremacy Clause ⓘ surface form: Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution federalism in the United States ⓘ judicial review ⓘ
respondent	Virginia ⓘ surface form: Commonwealth of Virginia
resultedIn	affirmation of Virginia’s conviction of the Cohens brothers ⓘ
stateCourtFromWhichAppealed	Judicial System of Virginia ⓘ surface form: Virginia state court
strengthened	authority of the U.S. Supreme Court over state courts ⓘ federal judicial power ⓘ
yearDecided	1821 ⓘ

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Cohens v. Virginia → fullCaseName → Cohens v. Virginia self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Philip J. Cohen and Mendes J. Cohen v. The Commonwealth of Virginia

Marshall Court era → hasKeyDecision → Cohens v. Virginia ⓘ

John Marshall Court → landmarkCase → Cohens v. Virginia ⓘ

John Marshall → notableWork → Cohens v. Virginia ⓘ