Which court case overturned more previous decisions, Ableman v. Booth or Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency?
Ableman v. Booth Ableman v. Booth, 62 U.S. 506 (1859) , was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that State courts cannot issue rulings on federal law that contradict the decisions of federal courts, overturning a decision by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. The Supreme Court held that under the Constitution, the federal courts have the final power to decide cases arising under the Constitution and federal statutes, and that the States do not have the power to overturn those decisions. Thus, Wisconsin did not have the authority to nullify federal judgments or statutes.
Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49 (1978), involved a request to stop denying tribal membership to those children born to female (not male) tribal members who married outside of the tribe. The mother who made the case pleaded that the discrimination against her child was solely based on sex, which violated the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968. The courts decided that "tribal common-law sovereign immunity prevented a suit against the tribe." The decision ultimately strengthened tribal self-determination by further providing that generally, the federal government played no enforcement role over the tribal governments.