Scott v. Sandford - Test Cases

The Supreme Court frowns on test cases, or "friendly" suits. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney once described "friendly" suits as an example of "contempt of the court, and highly reprehensible." Justice David J. Brewer wrote, "It never was the thought that, by means of a friendly suit, a party beaten in the Legislature could transfer to the courts an inquiry as to constitutionality of the legislative Act."

Clearly there has been no justification in the court's eyes, as Brewer noted, for any attempt to reverse the constitutional vote of a legislature by means of a test case. There was another practical reason behind his statement: the justices are only human and can review only so many cases per session.

A famous example of a test case was Roe v. Wade (1973), which legalized abortion. By the time the case came before the court, "Roe" (Norma McCorvey) had long since given birth to her baby; nonetheless, she agreed to participate in a case to test an 1859 Texas abortion statute.