Randy and I titled the first edition of our book, 100 Supreme Court Cases Everyone Should Know. When we began the project, it was never our intent to include exactly 100 cases. Rather, after we finished compiling the list of the most important decisions, we realized we were right around one-hundred. We thought putting that round number in the title would be good for promotional purposes. But in fairness, we were actually over 100. We had 103 cases to be precise.
For the second edition, we had to modify the case count. We deleted five cases: McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky (2005), Van Orden v. Perry (2005). United States v. Windsor (2013), and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores (2014), and Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt (2016). That brought the total down to 98 cases. But we also added 12 new cases: Engel v. Vitale (1962), Baker v. Carr (1962), Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), New York Times v. United States (1971), Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972), Shaw v. Reno (1993), Town of Greece v. Galloway (2014), American Legion v. American Humanist Association (2019), Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (2022), New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen (2022), and Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022).
We quickly decided against changing the title to 110 Cases Everyone Should Know. Indeed, the precise number would fluctuate over time for future decisions. Rather, we made a permanent fix: 100+ Cases Everyone Should Know. Indeed, the plus sign is in en vogue: Disney+, Paramount+, and so on.
For the cover, we added a plus sign to the right of the “100.”
The plus includes the newest additions to the book. In the center square, we added the Peace Cross from American Legion. In the top square, we included Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Coach Kennedy, Mary Beth Tinker, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. The last addition came later, as we had to design the cover before Justice Jackson’s official confirmation. In the left square, we included Thomas Dobbs of the Mississippi State Department of Health, Robert Nash of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Susan Galloway of Town of Greece, and New York State Police Superintendent Kevin P. Bruen. In the bottom square, we included Tennessee Secretary of State Joe C. Carr, Daniel Ellsberg (leaker of the Pentagon Papers), President Richard Nixon, and Attorney General Janet Reno. In the right square, we included Clarence Earl Gideon, Ernesto Miranda, Officer Carroll Cooley (who arrested Miranda), and Florida Division of Corrections Director Louis L. Wainwright.
We will have more exciting news tomorrow about Supreme Court-related photographs.
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