positionyou
Why present perfect? The action started in past continued for ~century( to get to some point) and finished. why not simple past?
The wording "Although the Supreme Court ruled
as long ago as 1880" sets up the sentence to convey that the events have been ongoing since 1880.
Then, notice also that the sentence doesn't say that the process of developing and enforcing the principle is complete. Yes, it says, "nearly a century of of case-by-case adjudication has been necessary," but it doesn't say that the process is complete now after that "nearly a century."
So, the present perfect works OK there.