List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 109

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Supreme Court of the United States
Seal of the United States Supreme Court.svg
EstablishedMarch 4, 1789; 233 years ago (1789-03-04)[1]
LocationWashington, D.C.
Coordinates38°53′26″N 77°00′16″W / 38.89056°N 77.00444°W / 38.89056; -77.00444Coordinates: 38°53′26″N 77°00′16″W / 38.89056°N 77.00444°W / 38.89056; -77.00444
Composition methodPresidential nomination with Senate confirmation
Authorized byConstitution of the United States, Art. III, § 1
Judge term lengthlife tenure, subject to impeachment and removal
Number of positions9 (by statute)
Websitesupremecourt.gov

This is a list of the 93 cases reported in volume 109 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1883 and 1884.

Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 109 U.S.[]

The Supreme Court is established by Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which says: "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court . . .". The size of the Court is not specified; the Constitution leaves it to Congress to set the number of justices. Under the Judiciary Act of 1789 Congress originally fixed the number of justices at six (one chief justice and five associate justices).[2] Since 1789 Congress has varied the size of the Court from six to seven, nine, ten, and back to nine justices (always including one chief justice).

When the cases in volume 109 U.S. were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:

Portrait Justice Office Home State Succeeded Date confirmed by the Senate
(Vote)
Tenure on Supreme Court
Chief Justice Morrison Waite.jpg Morrison Waite Chief Justice Ohio Salmon P. Chase January 21, 1874
(63–0)
March 4, 1874

March 23, 1888
(Died)
Samuel Freeman Miller - Brady-Handy.jpg Samuel Freeman Miller Associate Justice Iowa Peter Vivian Daniel July 16, 1862
(Acclamation)
July 21, 1862

October 13, 1890
(Died)
Stephen Johnson Field, photo half length seated, 1875.jpg Stephen Johnson Field Associate Justice California newly-created seat March 10, 1863
(Acclamation)
May 10, 1863

December 1, 1897
(Retired)
Joseph Philo Bradley - Brady-Handy.jpg Joseph P. Bradley Associate Justice New Jersey newly-created seat March 21, 1870
(46–9)
March 23, 1870

January 22, 1892
(Died)
JudgeJMHarlan.jpg John Marshall Harlan Associate Justice Kentucky David Davis November 29, 1877
(Acclamation)
December 10, 1877

October 14, 1911
(Died)
William Burnham Woods.jpg William Burnham Woods Associate Justice Georgia William Strong December 21, 1880
(39–8)
January 5, 1881

May 14, 1887
(Died)
Thomas Stanley Matthews - Brady-Handy.jpg Stanley Matthews Associate Justice Ohio Noah Haynes Swayne May 12, 1881
(24–23)
May 17, 1881

March 22, 1889
(Died)
Horacegrayphoto.jpg Horace Gray Associate Justice Massachusetts Nathan Clifford December 20, 1881
(51–5)
January 9, 1882

September 15, 1902
(Died)
Samuel Blatchford, US Supreme Court Justice.png Samuel Blatchford Associate Justice New York Ward Hunt March 22, 1882
(Acclamation)
April 3, 1882

July 7, 1893
(Died)

Notable Cases in 109 U.S.[]

Civil Rights Cases[]

The Civil Rights Cases, 3 (1883), were a group of five cases in which the Supreme Court held that the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments did not empower Congress to outlaw racial discrimination by private individuals. The holding regarding the 13th Amendment was overturned by the Court in the 1968 case Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. The holding regarding the 14th Amendment not applying to private entities is still valid precedent, but in the 1964 case Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States, the Supreme Court held that Congress could prohibit racial discrimination by private actors via another part of the Constitution, the Commerce Clause.

The only dissenting justice in the Civil Rights Cases, John Marshall Harlan, correctly predicted the decision's negative long-term consequences: it put an end to the attempts by Radical Republicans to ensure the civil rights of blacks, and triggered widespread segregation in housing, employment, and public life that confined them to second-class citizenship throughout much of the United States until the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement.

Chief Crow Dog

Ex Parte Crow Dog[]

Ex parte Crow Dog, 556 (1883), was a Supreme Court decision that followed the death of one member of a Native American tribe at the hands of another on reservation land. Crow Dog was a member of the Brulé band of the Lakota Sioux. On August 5, 1881 he shot and killed Spotted Tail, a Lakota chief. The tribal council dealt with the incident according to Sioux tradition, and Crow Dog paid restitution to the dead man's family. However, the U.S. authorities then prosecuted Crow Dog for murder in a federal court. He was found guilty and sentenced to hang. He petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus, arguing that the federal court had no jurisdiction to try cases when the offense had already been tried by the tribal council. The Court found in his favor and Crow Dog was released. The case led to the Major Crimes Act in 1885, which placed some major crimes (initially seven, now 15) under federal jurisdiction if committed by a Native American against another Native American on a reservation or on tribal land.

Citation style[]

Under the Judiciary Act of 1789 the federal court structure at the time comprised District Courts, which had general trial jurisdiction; Circuit Courts, which had mixed trial and appellate (from the US District Courts) jurisdiction; and the United States Supreme Court, which had appellate jurisdiction over the federal District and Circuit courts—and for certain issues over state courts. The Supreme Court also had limited original jurisdiction (i.e., in which cases could be filed directly with the Supreme Court without first having been heard by a lower federal or state court). There were one or more federal District Courts and/or Circuit Courts in each state, territory, or other geographical region.

Bluebook citation style is used for case names, citations, and jurisdictions.

  • "C.C.D." = United States Circuit Court for the District of . . .
    • e.g.,"C.C.D.N.J." = United States Circuit Court for the District of New Jersey
  • "D." = United States District Court for the District of . . .
    • e.g.,"D. Mass." = United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
  • "E." = Eastern; "M." = Middle; "N." = Northern; "S." = Southern; "W." = Western
    • e.g.,"C.C.S.D.N.Y." = United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York
    • e.g.,"M.D. Ala." = United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
  • "Adm." = Admiralty Court (a federal court)
  • "Ct. Cl." = United States Court of Claims
  • "Ct. Com. Pl." = Court of Common Pleas (a state court)
  • The abbreviation of a state's name alone indicates the highest appellate court in that state's judiciary at the time.
    • e.g.,"Pa." = Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
    • e.g.,"Me." = Supreme Judicial Court of Maine

List of cases in volume 109 U.S.[]

Case Name Page & year Opinion of the Court Concurring opinion(s) Dissenting opinion(s) Lower court Disposition of case
Osborne v. Adams Cnty. 1 (1883) Harlan none none C.C.D. Neb. rehearing denied
Civil Rights Cases 3 (1883) Bradley none Harlan C.C.D. Kan. remanded to divided lower court
Poindexter v. Greenhow 63 (1883) Waite none none Va. Hustings Ct. advancement on docket denied
United States v. Hamilton 63 (1883) Bradley none none C.C.M.D. Tenn. dismissed
United States v. Gale 65 (1883) Bradley none none C.C.N.D. Fla. remanded to divided lower court
Steever v. Rickman 74 (1883) Waite none none not indicated conditional dismissal
Oliver, Finnie & Co. v. Rumford Chem. Works 75 (1883) Blatchford none none C.C.W.D. Tenn. reversed
Porter v. Lazear 84 (1883) Gray none none Pa. affirmed
Laver v. Dennett 90 (1883) Matthews none none C.C.D. Cal. affirmed
King v. Gallun 99 (1883) Woods none none C.C.E.D. Wis. affirmed
Hewitt v. Campbell 103 (1883) Harlan none none Sup. Ct. D.C. affirmed
Green [sic] Cnty. v. Conness 104 (1883) Bradley none none C.C.W.D. Mo. affirmed
Haskins v. St. Louis & S. Ry. 106 (1883) Waite none none C.C.M.D. Tenn. dismissed for want of jurisdiction
City of Opelika v. Daniel 108 (1883) Waite none none C.C.M.D. Ala. dismissed for want of jurisdiction
The Tornado 110 (1883) Blatchford none none C.C.D. La. affirmed
Double-Pointed Tack Co. v. Two Rivers Mfg. Co. 117 (1883) Blatchford none none C.C.E.D. Wis. affirmed
Manhattan Life Ins. Co. v. Broughton 121 (1883) Gray none none C.C.S.D.N.Y. affirmed
Newman v. Arthur 132 (1883) Matthews none none C.C.S.D.N.Y. affirmed
Arthur v. Pastor 139 (1883) Matthews none none C.C.S.D.N.Y. affirmed
United States v. Fisher 143 (1883) Woods none none Ct. Cl. reversed
United States v. Mitchell 146 (1883) Woods none none Ct. Cl. reversed
Hovey v. McDonald 150 (1883) Bradley none none Sup. Ct. D.C. affirmed
Louis v. Brown Twp. 162 (1883) Miller none none C.C.N.D. Ohio affirmed
Indiana S.R.R. Co. v. Liverpool, L. & G. Ins. Co. 168 (1883) Waite none none C.C.D. Ind. affirmed
Guion v. Liverpool, L. & G. Ins. Co. 173 (1883) Waite none none C.C.D. Ind. dismissed for want of jurisdiction
Ex parte Pennsylvania 174 (1883) Waite none none E.D. Pa. prohibition denied
Hunt v. Oliver 177 (1883) Waite none none C.C.E.D. Mich. writ of supersedeas granted
Evans v. Brown 180 (1883) Waite none none C.C.E.D. Nev. affirmed
Winthrop Iron Co. v. Meeker 180 (1883) Waite none none C.C.W.D. Mich. dismissal denied
Retzer v. Wood 185 (1883) Blatchford none none C.C.S.D.N.Y. reversed
Snyder v. Marks 189 (1883) Blatchford none none C.C.D. La. affirmed
Cragin v. Lovell 194 (1883) Gray none none C.C.D. La. reversed
United States v. Gibbons 200 (1883) Matthews none none Ct. Cl. affirmed
Booth v. Tiernan 205 (1883) Matthews none none C.C.N.D. Ill. affirmed
New Orleans Nat'l Banking Ass'n v. Adams & Co. 211 (1883) Woods none none C.C.D. La. affirmed
Matthews v. Densmore 216 (1883) Miller none none Mich. reversed
City of New Orleans v. Louisville & N.R.R. 221 (1883) Waite none none C.C.E.D. La. affirmed
Knox Cnty. v. United States ex rel. Harshman 229 (1883) Waite none none C.C.E.D. Mo. affirmed
Ex parte Mead 230 (1883) Waite none none not indicated mandamus denied
Alabama Gold Life Ins. Co. v. Nichols 232 (1883) Waite none none C.C.E.D. Tex. dismissed for want of jurisdiction
Lamar v. McCay 235 (1883) Blatchford none none C.C.S.D.N.Y. reversed
Arnson v. Murphy 238 (1883) Matthews none none C.C.S.D.N.Y. reversed
Louisville & N.R.R. Co. v. Palmes 244 (1883) Matthews none none Fla. affirmed
United States ex rel. Wilson v. Walker 258 (1883) Woods none none Sup. Ct. D.C. affirmed
Meath v. Levee Comm'rs 268 (1883) Woods none none C.C.S.D. Miss. affirmed
Monongahela Nat'l Bank v. Jacobus 275 (1883) Harlan none none C.C.W.D. Pa. affirmed
W.R. Grace & Co. v. American Cent. Ins. Co. 278 (1883) Harlan none none C.C.E.D.N.Y. reversed
Louisiana ex rel. Folsom v. City of New Orleans 285 (1883) Field Bradley Harlan La. affirmed
Walsh v. Preston 297 (1883) Miller none Harlan C.C.W.D. Tex. reversed
Dubuque & S.C.R.R. v. Des Moines Valley R.R. 329 (1883) Waite none none Iowa affirmed
Keyes v. United States 336 (1883) Blatchford none none Ct. Cl. affirmed
Bernards Twp. v. Stebbins 341 (1883) Gray none none C.C.D.N.J. reversed
Warner v. Connecticut Mut. Life Ins. Co. 357 (1883) Matthews none none C.C.N.D. Ill. affirmed
Flash v. Conn 371 (1883) Woods none none C.C.N.D. Fla. reversed
Terre Haute & I. Ry. Co. v. Struble 381 (1883) Harlan none none C.C.E.D. Mo. affirmed
Miller v. City of New York 385 (1883) Field none none C.C.S.D.N.Y. affirmed
Memphis Gas-Light Co v. Shelby Cnty. 398 (1883) Miller none none Tenn. affirmed
Gilfillan v. Union Canal Co. 401 (1883) Waite none none Pa. affirmed
J.A. Fay & Co. v. Cordesman 408 (1883) Blatchford none none C.C.S.D. Ohio affirmed
Feibelman v. Packard 421 (1883) Matthews none none C.C.D. La. affirmed
Smith v. McNeal 426 (1883) Woods none none C.C.W.D. Tenn. reversed
Bailey v. United States 432 (1883) Harlan none none Ct. Cl. affirmed
Jackson v. Roby 440 (1883) Field none none C.C.D. Colo. affirmed
Cunningham v. Macon & B.R.R. Co. 446 (1883) Miller none Harlan C.C.S.D. Ga. affirmed
J. Leroux & Co. v. Hudson 468 (1883) Blatchford none none C.C.E.D. Mich. reversed
Schott v. Hudson 477 (1883) Blatchford none none C.C.E.D. Mich. reversed
Randall v. Baltimore & O.R.R. Co. 478 (1883) Gray none none C.C.D.W. Va. affirmed
Ellis v. Davis 485 (1883) Matthews none none C.C.D. La. affirmed
Townsend v. Little 504 (1883) Woods none none Sup. Ct. Terr. Utah affirmed
United States v. Jones 513 (1883) Field none none Wis. affirmed
Thomas v. Brownville, F.K. & P.R.R. Co. 522 (1883) Miller none none C.C.D. Neb. reversed
Canada S. Ry. Co. v. Gebhard 527 (1883) Waite none Harlan C.C.S.D.N.Y. reversed
Sullivan v. Iron Silver Mining Co. 550 (1883) Gray none none C.C.D. Colo. reversed
Ex parte Crow Dog 556 (1883) Matthews none none D. Terr. Dakota habeas corpus granted
Young v. Duvall 573 (1883) Harlan none none Sup. Ct. D.C. affirmed
Providence & N.Y.S.S. Co. v. Hill Mfg. Co. 578 (1883) Bradley none Field Mass. reversed
Robertson v. Pickrell 608 (1883) Field none none Sup. Ct. D.C. affirmed
Sweeney v. United States 618 (1884) Waite none none Ct. Cl. affirmed
Cherokee Cnty. v. Wilson 621 (1884) Waite none none C.C.D. Kan. affirmed
Salamanca Twp. v. Wilson 627 (1884) Waite none none C.C.D. Kan. affirmed
Ex parte Boyer 629 (1884) Blatchford none none N.D. Ill. prohibition denied
Estey v. Burdett 633 (1884) Blatchford none none C.C.D. Vt. reversed
Clements v. Odorless Excav. Apparatus Co. 641 (1884) Blatchford none none C.C.D. Md. reversed
Langdon, Albright & Co. v. Emery 650 (1884) Blatchford none none Sup. Ct. D.C. affirmed
Winchester & Partridge Mfg. Co. v. Funge 651 (1884) Blatchford none none Sup. Ct. Terr. Utah reversed
Wyman v. Halstead 654 (1884) Gray none none Sup. Ct. D.C. reversed
Bachman v. Lawson 659 (1884) Gray none none Super. Ct. N.Y. affirmed
Bendey v. Townsend 665 (1884) Gray none none C.C.W.D. Mich. reversed
Smith v. Greenhow 669 (1884) Matthews none none C.C.E.D. Va. reversed
Potomac S.B. Co. v. Upper Potomac S.B. Co. 672 (1884) Matthews none Miller Sup. Ct. D.C. affirmed
Chicago & A.R.R. Co. v. Union Rolling-Mill Co. 702 (1884) Woods none none C.C.N.D. Ill. affirmed
Howard v. Carusi 725 (1884) Woods none none Sup. Ct. D.C. affirmed
Sherman Cnty. v. Simons 735 (1884) Woods none none C.C.D. Neb. affirmed

Notes and references[]

  1. ^ Lawson, Gary; Seidman, Guy (2001). "When Did the Constitution Become Law?". Notre Dame Law Review. 77: 1–37.
  2. ^ "Supreme Court Research Guide". Georgetown Law Library. Retrieved April 7, 2021.

External links[]

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