List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 71

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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 57 cases reported in volume 71 (4 Wall.) of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States from April 1866 to April 1867.[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").

John William Wallace[]

Starting with the 66th volume of U.S. Reports, the Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States was John William Wallace. Wallace was Reporter of Decisions from 1863 to 1874, covering volumes 68 through 90 of United States Reports which correspond to volumes 1 through 23 of his Wallace's Reports. As such, the dual form of citation to, for example, Thompson v. Bowie is 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) 463 (1867).

Wallace's Reports were the final nominative reports for the US Supreme Court; starting with volume 91, cases were identified simply as "(volume #) U.S. (page #) (year)".

Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of 71 U.S. (4 Wall.)[]

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 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) were decided the following nine justices were members of the Court:

Portrait Justice Office Home State Succeeded Date confirmed by the Senate
(Vote)
Tenure on Supreme Court
Mathew Brady, Portrait of Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, officer of the United States government (1860–1865).jpg Salmon P. Chase Chief Justice Ohio Roger B. Taney December 6, 1864
(Acclamation)
December 15, 1864

May 7, 1873
(Died)
JMWayne2.jpg James Moore Wayne Associate Justice Georgia William Johnson January 9, 1835
(Acclamation)
January 14, 1835

July 5, 1867
(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)
NClifford.jpg Nathan Clifford Associate Justice Maine Benjamin Robbins Curtis January 12, 1858
(26–23)
January 21, 1858

July 25, 1881
(Died)
Noah Haynes Swayne, photo, head and shoulders, seated.jpg Noah Haynes Swayne Associate Justice Ohio John McLean January 24, 1862
(38–1)
January 27, 1862

January 24, 1881
(Retired)
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)
DDavis.jpg David Davis Associate Justice Illinois John Archibald Campbell December 8, 1862
(Acclamation)
December 10, 1862

March 4, 1877
(Resigned)
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)

Notable Cases in 71 U.S. (4 Wall.)[]

Ex parte Milligan[]

Ex parte Milligan, 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) 2 (1866), is a Supreme Court decision that ruled unconstitutional the application of military tribunals to citizens when civilian courts are still operating. The Court held that "martial rule can never exist when the courts are open", and confined martial law to areas of "military operations, where war really prevails" and when it was a necessity to provide a substitute for a civil authority that had been overthrown.

Ex parte Garland[]

Ex parte Garland, 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) 333 (1866), is an important case involving the disbarment of former Confederate officials. The Supreme Court ruled that a statute prohibiting former Confederate government officials from serving in the US government was unconstitutional as being both a bill of attainder and an ex post facto law. The Court also held that lawyers are officers of the court, not officers of the United States, and that their removal must be an exercise of judicial power, not legislative power.

Mississippi v. Johnson[]

Mississippi v. Johnson, 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) 475 (1867), was the first suit to be brought against a President of the United States in the United States Supreme Court. The state of Mississippi attempted to sue President Andrew Johnson for enforcing Reconstruction. The Court ruled in favor of the president.

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 71 U.S. (4 Wall.)[]

Case Name Page & year Opinion of the Court Concurring opinion(s) Dissenting opinion(s) Lower court Disposition of case
Stearns v. United States 1 (1867) per curiam none none not indicated certiorari granted
Brobst v. Brobst 2 (1867) Chase none none not indicated remanded
Ex parte Milligan 2 (1866) Davis Chase none C.C.D. Ind. remanded to divided lower court
McGee v. Mathis 143 (1866) Chase none none Ark. reversed
United States v. Hoffman 158 (1867) Miller none none N.D. Cal. prohibition denied
Walker v. United States 163 (1866) Chase none none C.C.E.D. La. dismissed for want of jurisdiction
Brown v. Wiley 165 (1867) Chase none none Sup. Ct. D.C. dismissed for want of jurisdiction
Locke v. City of New Orleans 172 (1867) Field none none La. affirmed
Sturdy v. Jackaway 174 (1867) Grier none none C.C.E.D. Ark. remanded to divided lower court
Missouri & M.R.R. Co. v. Rock 177 (1867) Miller none none Iowa dismissed for want of jurisdiction
United States v. Dashiel 182 (1866) Nelson none none W.D. Tex. reversed
United States v. Allsbury 186 (1866) Nelson none none W.D. Tex. affirmed
Leftwitch v. Lecanu 187 (1867) Miller none none C.C.E.D. La. affirmed
City of New York v. Sheffield 189 (1867) Miller none none C.C.S.D.N.Y. affirmed
Christy v. Pridgeon 196 (1866) Field none none E.D. Tex. affirmed
Lanfear v. Hunley 204 (1866) Swayne none none La. affirmed
Witherspoon v. Duncan 210 (1867) Davis none none Ark. affirmed
Rutherford v. Geddes 220 (1867) Miller none none C.C.E.D. La. affirmed
Evans v. Patterson 224 (1867) Grier none none C.C.W.D. Pa. affirmed
Hughes v. United States 232 (1866) Field none none C.C.E.D. La. affirmed
Mitchell v. St. Maxent's Lessee 237 (1866) Davis none none N.D. Fla. affirmed
People ex rel. Duer v. City of New York 244 (1867) Nelson none Chase N.Y. affirmed
Graham v. United States 259 (1867) Field none none D. Cal. affirmed
Brown v. Bass 262 (1867) Nelson none none C.C.S.D. Miss. reversed
Mitchell v. Burlington & M.P. Plank Rd. Co. 270 (1867) Clifford none none C.C.D. Iowa reversed
Larned v. Burlington & M.P. Plank Rd. Co. 275 (1867) Clifford none none C.C.D. Iowa reversed
Cummings v. Missouri 277 (1867) Field none Miller Mo. reversed
Ex parte Garland 333 (1867) Field none Miller original jurisdiction membership in bar of Court confirmed
Barrows v. Kindred 399 (1867) Swayne none none C.C.S.D. Ill. reversed
United States v. Hathaway 404 (1867) Nelson none none C.C.E.D. Mich. remanded to divided lower court
United States v. Quimby 408 (1867) Nelson none none C.C.E.D. Mich. remanded to divided lower court
Gilman v. Lockwood 409 (1867) Clifford none none C.C.D. Wis. reversed
The Moses Taylor 411 (1867) Field none none Cal. Cnty. Ct. reversed
Semple v. Hagar 431 (1867) Grier none none Cal. dismissed
Rock Island Cnty. v. United States 435 (1867) Swayne none none C.C.N.D. Ill. affirmed
Davidson v. Lanier 447 (1867) Chase none none N.D. Miss. reversed
Bradley v. Illinois 459 (1867) Nelson none none Ill. reversed
Thompson v. Bowie 463 (1867) Davis none Grier Sup. Ct. D.C. reversed
Mississippi v. Johnson 475 (1867) Chase none none original jurisdiction dismissed for want of jurisdiction
Saulet v. Shepherd 502 (1867) Grier none none C.C.E.D. La. affirmed
Bentley v. Coyne 509 (1867) Clifford none none C.C.E.D. Mich. affirmed
Purcell v. Miner I 513 (1867) Grier none none Sup. Ct. D.C. affirmed
Purcell v. Miner II 519 (1867) Grier none none Sup. Ct. D.C. rehearing denied
Commissioner of Patents v. Whiteley 522 (1867) Swayne none none Sup. Ct. D.C. reversed
von Hoffman v. City of Quincy 535 (1867) Swayne none none C.C.S.D. Ill. reversed
The Hine 555 (1867) Miller none none Iowa reversed
Newell v. Nixon 572 (1866) Clifford none none C.C.E.D. La. affirmed
Sparrow v. Strong 584 (1867) Chase none none Nev. dismissed for want of jurisdiction
Bell v. Mobile & O.R.R. Co. 598 (1867) Davis none none N.D. Miss. affirmed
Ryan v. Thomas 603 (1867) Chase none none Mo. dismissed for want of jurisdiction
Pearson v. Duane 605 (1867) Davis none none C.C.D. Cal. remanded for reduction of damages
Ware v. United States 617 (1867) Clifford none none C.C.E.D. Pa. affirmed
The Nassau 634 (1867) Davis none none C.C.S.D.N.Y. affirmed
United States v. le Baron 642 (1866) Miller none none C.C.S.D. Ala. reversed
New Orleans R.R. Co. v. Lindsay 650 (1866) Swayne none none C.C.E.D. La. affirmed
Robbins v. City of Chicago 657 (1867) Clifford none none C.C.N.D. Ill. affirmed
United States v. McMasters 680 (1866) Nelson none none C.C.E.D. La. affirmed

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[]

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