List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 56

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Supreme Court of the United States
Seal of the United States Supreme Court.svg
EstablishedMarch 4, 1789; 232 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
Chief Justice of the United States
CurrentlyJohn Roberts
SinceSeptember 29, 2005; 16 years ago (2005-09-29)

This is a list of the 37 cases reported in volume 56 (15 How.) of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States from December 1853 to March 1854.[2]

Nominative reports[]

In 1874, the U.S. government created the United States Reports, and retroactively numbered older privately-published case reports as part of the new series. As a result, cases appearing in volumes 1–90 of U.S. Reports have dual citation forms; one for the volume number of U.S. Reports, and one for the volume number of the reports named for the relevant reporter of decisions (these are called "nominative reports").

Benjamin Chew Howard[]

Starting with the 42nd volume of U.S. Reports, the Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States was Benjamin Chew Howard. Howard was Reporter of Decisions from 1843 to 1860, covering volumes 42 through 65 of United States Reports which correspond to volumes 1 through 24 of his Howard's Reports. As such, the dual form of citation to, for example, Corning v. Troy Iron & Nail Factory is 56 U.S. (15 How.) 451 (1854).

Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of 56 U.S. (15 How.)[]

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).[3] 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 56 U.S. (15 How.) were decided the Court comprised these nine members:

Portrait Justice Office Home State Succeeded Date confirmed by the Senate
(Vote)
Tenure on Supreme Court
Roger B. Taney - Brady-Handy.jpg Roger B. Taney Chief Justice Maryland John Marshall March 15, 1836
(29–15)
March 28, 1836

October 12, 1864
(Died)
Justice John McLean daguerreotype by Mathew Brady 1849.jpg John McLean Associate Justice Ohio Robert Trimble March 7, 1829
(Acclamation)
January 11, 1830

April 4, 1861
(Died)
JMWayne2.jpg James Moore Wayne Associate Justice Georgia William Johnson January 9, 1835
(Acclamation)
January 14, 1835

July 5, 1867
(Died)
John Catron - Brady-Handy.jpg John Catron Associate Justice Tennessee newly-created seat March 8, 1837
(28–15)
May 1, 1837

May 30, 1865
(Died)
Peter Vivian Daniel, US Supreme Court Justice, c1860.jpg Peter Vivian Daniel Associate Justice Virginia Philip P. Barbour March 2, 1841
(25–5)
January 10, 1842

May 31, 1860
(Died)
Samuel Nelson - Brady-Handy.jpg Samuel Nelson Associate Justice New York Smith Thompson February 14, 1845
(Acclamation)
February 27, 1845

November 28, 1872
(Retired)
Robert Cooper Grier - Brady-Handy.jpg Robert Cooper Grier Associate Justice Pennsylvania Henry Baldwin August 4, 1846
(Acclamation)
August 10, 1846

January 31, 1870
(Retired)
Benjamin Robbins Curtis - photo.png Benjamin Robbins Curtis Associate Justice Massachusetts

Levi Woodbury

December 20, 1851
(Acclamation)
October 10, 1851

September 30, 1857
(Resigned)
John Archibald Campbell - Brady-Handy.jpg John Archibald Campbell Associate Justice Alabama John McKinley March 22, 1853
(Acclamation)
April 11, 1853

April 30, 1861
(Resigned)

Notable case in 56 U.S. (15 How.)[]

O'Reilly v. Morse[]

O'Reilly v. Morse, 56 U.S. (15 How.) 62 (1853), also known as The Telegraph Patent Case, is an 1854 decision of the Supreme Court that has been highly influential in the development of the law of patent-eligibility in regard to claimed inventions in the field of computer-software related art. It holds, essentially, that an abstract idea, apart from its implementation, is not patent-eligible.

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 56 U.S. (15 How.)[]

Case Name Page & year Opinion of the Court Concurring opinion(s) Dissenting opinion(s) Lower court Disposition of case
United States v. Davenport's Heirs 1 (1853) Campbell none none E.D. La. affirmed (part); reversed (part)
United States v. Patterson 10 (1853) Campbell none none E.D. La. affirmed (part); reversed (part)
United States v. d'Auterieve 14 (1854) Nelson none Curtis E.D. La. reversed
United States v. Roselius I 31 (1853) Catron none none E.D. La. reversed
United States v. Roselius II 36 (1853) Taney none none E.D. La. reversed
United States v. Ducros 38 (1854) Grier none none E.D. La. reversed
Eyre v. Potter 42 (1854) Daniel none none C.C.D.N.C. affirmed
O'Reilly v. Morse 62 (1854) Taney Grier (part) Grier (part) C.C.D. Ky. affirmed (part); reversed (part)
Smith v. Ely 137 (1854) Taney none none C.C.D. Ohio remanded to divided lower court
Broome v. United States 143 (1854) Wayne none none C.C.N.D. Fla. affirmed
Phelps v. Mayer 160 (1854) Taney none none C.C.D. Ind. affirmed
Bispham v. Price 162 (1854) Campbell none none C.C.E.D. Pa. affirmed
Bevins v. Ramsey 179 (1854) Catron none none C.C.E.D. Tenn. affirmed
Rockhill v. Hanna 189 (1854) Grier none none C.C.D. Ind. remanded to divided lower court
Kanouse v. Martin 198 (1854) Curtis none none N.Y. Super. Ct. reversed
Brooks v. Fiske 212 (1854) Catron none McLean C.C.D. Mass. affirmed
Northern I.R.R. Co. v. Michigan Cent. R.R. Co. 233 (1854) McLean Catron, Campbell none C.C.D. Mich. affirmed
Corning v. Burden 252 (1854) Grier none none C.C.N.D.N.Y. reversed
Garrow v. Davis 272 (1854) Curtis none none C.C.D. Me. affirmed
Magniac v. Thomson 281 (1854) Daniel none none C.C.E.D. Pa. affirmed
Curran v. Arkansas 304 (1853) Curtis none Catron, Daniel Ark. reversed
Anderson v. Bock 323 (1854) Campbell none none C.C.E.D. La. reversed
Winans v. Denmead 330 (1854) Curtis none Campbell C.C.D. Md. reversed
Walworth v. Kneel 348 (1854) Taney none none Wis. dismissed for want of jurisdiction
Carter v. Bennett 354 (1854) Taney none none Fla. dismissed for want of jurisdiction
Forsyth v. Reynolds 358 (1854) Catron none none C.C.D. Ill. reversed
McDonogh's Ex'rs v. Murdoch 367 (1854) Campbell none none C.C.E.D. La. reversed
Wylie v. Coxe 415 (1854) McLean none none C.C.D.C. affirmed
Murray v. Gibson 421 (1854) Daniel none none C.C.S.D. Miss. remanded to divided lower court
Den ex rel. Russell v. Association of N.J. Co. 426 (1854) Taney none none C.C.D.N.J. affirmed
Foley v. Harrison 433 (1854) McLean none none La. affirmed
Corning v. Troy Iron & Nail Factory 451 (1854) Grier none none C.C.N.D.N.Y. dismissed
United States v. Dawson 467 (1854) Nelson none McLean C.C.E.D. Ark. remanded to divided lower court
Kearney v. Taylor 494 (1854) Nelson none none C.C.D.N.J. affirmed
Delauriere v. Emison 525 (1854) McLean none none Mo. affirmed
Adams v. Otterback 539 (1854) McLean none none C.C.D.C. affirmed
Livingston v. Woodworth 546 (1854) Daniel none none C.C.D. Mass. reversed

Notes and references[]

  1. ^ Lawson, Gary; Seidman, Guy (2001). "When Did the Constitution Become Law?". Notre Dame Law Review. 77: 1–37.
  2. ^ Anne Ashmore, DATES OF SUPREME COURT DECISIONS AND ARGUMENTS, Library, Supreme Court of the United States, 26 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Supreme Court Research Guide". Georgetown Law Library. Retrieved April 7, 2021.

See also[]

certificate of division

External links[]

Retrieved from ""