List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 60: Difference between revisions

In 1874, the U.S. government created the ''United States Reports'', and retroactively numbered older privately-published [[Law report|case reports]] as part of the new series. As a result, cases appearing in volumes 1–90 of ''U.S. Reports'' have dual [[Case citation|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 "[[Nominate reports|nominative reports]]").

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, ''Lathrop v. Judson'' is 60 U.S. (19 How.) 66 (1857).

The Supreme Court is established by [[Article Three of the United States Constitution|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 of the United States|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).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/supreme_court|title=Supreme Court Research Guide |access-date=7 April 2021 |publisher=Georgetown Law Library}}</ref> Since 1789 Congress has varied the size of the Court from six to [[Seventh Circuit Act of 1807|seven]], [[Eighth and Ninth Circuits Act of 1837|nine]], [[Tenth Circuit Act of 1863|ten]], and back to [[Judiciary Act of 1869|nine]] justices (always including one chief justice). When the cases in 60 U.S. (19 How.) were decided the Court comprised these nine members:

''[[Scott v. Sandford]]'', [https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/87116/dred-scott-v-sandford/?q=%2260%20U.S.%20393%22&type=o&order_by=score%20desc&stat_Precedential=on&filed_after=01%2F01%2F1856&filed_before=01%2F01%2F1858&court=scotus 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857)], is likely the most notorious and widely-condemned decision in the history of the US Supreme Court. In it, the Court held that the [[US Constitution]] was not meant to include [[American citizenship]] for [[black people]], regardless of whether they were enslaved or free, and so the rights and privileges that the Constitution confers upon American citizens could not apply to them. Although Chief Justice [[Roger Taney]] and several of the other justices hoped that the decision would permanently settle the slavery controversy, which was increasingly dividing the American public, the decision's effect was the opposite. Taney's majority opinion suited the slaveholding states, but was intensely decried in the other states. The decision inflamed the national debate over slavery and deepened the divide that led ultimately to the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. In 1865, after the Union won the Civil War, the ''Dred Scott'' ruling was voided by the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Thirteenth Amendment]] to the US Constitution, which abolished slavery except as punishment for a crime, and the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]], which guaranteed citizenship for "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof". The Supreme Court's decision has been continuously denounced ever since, both for its overt racism and its role in the near destruction of the [[United States]] four years later.<ref>{{cite web |title=

Ranking the 10 Worst Supreme Court Decisions of All-Time |url=https://moneyinc.com/worst-supreme-court-decisions/ |first=Garrett |last=Parker |publisher=[[Money Inc.]] |year=2019 |access-date=June 10, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=13 Worst Supreme Court Decisions of All Time |url=https://blogs.findlaw.com/supreme_court/2015/10/13-worst-supreme-court-decisions-of-all-time.html |author=Staff |publisher=[[FindLaw]] |date=October 14, 2015 |access-date=June 10, 2021}}</ref> Bernard Schwartz said that it "stands first in any list of the worst Supreme Court decisions—Chief Justice [[Charles Evans Hughes|Hughes]] called it the Court's greatest self-inflicted wound."<ref>{{cite book |author=Bernard Schwartz |title=A Book of Legal Lists: The Best and Worst in American Law |url=https://archive.org/details/bookoflegallists0000schw |url-access=registration |year=1997 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/bookoflegallists0000schw/page/70 70]}}</ref> [[Junius P. Rodriguez]] wrote that it is "universally condemned as the U.S. Supreme Court's worst decision".<ref>{{cite book |author=Junius P. Rodriguez |title=Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4X44KbDBl9gC&pg=RA1-PA265 |year=2007 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=1|isbn=9781851095445 }}</ref> Historian David Thomas Konig agrees that it was "unquestionably, our court's worst decision ever."<ref>{{cite book |author=David Konig |title=The Dred Scott Case: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Race and Law |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KFOD1NwZtWUC&pg=PA213 |year=2010 |publisher=Ohio University Press |page=213 |isbn=9780821419120 |display-authors=etal}}</ref>

* "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]]

* "C.P." = [[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]]

! scope="col" style="width: 400px;" | Case Name

! scope="col" style="width: 150px;" | Concurring opinion(s)

! scope="col" style="width: 100px;" | Dissenting opinion(s)

! scope="col" style="width: 116px;" | Lower court

! scope="col" style="width: 200px;" | Disposition of case

| ''Long v. O'Fallon''

| ''New York & Virginia S.S. Co. v. Calderwood''

| ''Garrison v. Memphis Insurance Co.''

| ''Commercial Mutual Marine Insurance Co. v. Union Mutual Insurance Co.''

| ''[[Michigan Central Railroad|Michigan Central R.R. Co.]] v. [[Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway|Michigan Southern R.R. Co.]]''