List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 48

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This is a list of cases reported in volume 48 (7 How.) of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1848 and 1849.

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").

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, United States v. City of Chicago is 48 U. S. (7 How.) 185 (1849).

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). 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 48 U. S. (7 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 Chief Justice Maryland John Marshall March 15, 1836(29–15) March 28, 1836–October 12, 1864(Died) John McLean Associate Justice Ohio Robert Trimble March 7, 1829(Acclamation) January 11, 1830–April 4, 1861(Died) James Moore Wayne Associate Justice Georgia William Johnson January 9, 1835(Acclamation) January 14, 1835–July 5, 1867(Died) John Catron Associate Justice Tennessee newly created seat March 8, 1837(28–15) May 1, 1837–May 30, 1865(Died) John McKinley Associate Justice Alabama newly created seat September 25, 1837(Acclamation) January 9, 1838–July 19, 1852(Died) Peter Vivian Daniel Associate Justice Virginia Philip P. Barbour March 2, 1841(25–5) January 10, 1842–May 31, 1860(Died) Samuel Nelson Associate Justice New York Smith Thompson February 14, 1845(Acclamation) February 27, 1845–November 28, 1872(Retired) Levi Woodbury Associate Justice New Hampshire Joseph Story January 31, 1846(Acclamation) September 23, 1845–September 4, 1851(Died) Robert Cooper Grier Associate Justice Pennsylvania Henry Baldwin August 4, 1846(Acclamation) August 10, 1846–January 31, 1870(Retired)

In Luther v. Borden, 48 U. S. (7 How.) 1 (1849), the Supreme Court established the political question doctrine in controversies arising under the Guarantee Clause of Article Four of the United States Constitution (Art. IV, § 4). The holding that the "republican form of government" clause of Article Four is non justiciable still stands today. The case arose from the Dorr Rebellion in Rhode Island.

Smith v. Turner, and Norris v. Boston, 48 U. S. (7 How.) 283 (1849), are two similar cases, argued together before the Supreme Court, which decided 5 4 that states do not have the right to impose a tax determined by the number of passengers of a designated category on board a ship and/or disembarking into the State. Together, the cases are sometimes termed the Passenger Cases. The Court did not produce a majority opinion. Eight Justices authored separate opinions, totalling hundreds of pages, and their respective stances on various issues did not always align with other justices in their concurrences or dissents. The Passengers Cases are of historical interest. They portray diverse views on several constitutional questions, especially whether the Commerce Clause prohibits any state regulation of interstate and foreign commerce in the absence of federal law or treaty. The failure of the Court to produce a majority opinion significantly diminished the value of the Passengers Cases as a precedent.

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
"Ct. Cl." = United States Court of Claims
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

Case Name Page & year Opinion of the Court Concurring opinion(s) Dissenting opinion(s) Lower Court Disposition Luther v. Borden 1 (1849) Taney none Woodbury C. C. D. R. I. affirmed Wilkes v. Dinsman 89 (1849) Woodbury none none C. C. D. C. reversed Patton v. Taylor 132 (1849) Nelson none none C. C. D. Ky. reversed Fourniquet v. Perkins 160 (1849) Daniel none none C. C. D. La. affirmed Erwin v. Lowry 172 (1849) Catron none none La. reversed United States v. City of Chicago 185 (1849) Woodbury none Catron C. C. D. Ill. certification Smith v. Kernochen 198 (1849) Nelson none none C. C. S. D. Ala. reversed McLaughlin v. Bank of Potomac 220 (1849) Woodbury none none C. C. D. C. affirmed Wagner v. Baird 234 (1849) Grier none none C. C. D. Ohio affirmed Matheson v. Bank of Ala. 260 (1849) Taney none none Ala. dismissed McArthur's Heirs v. Dun's Heirs 262 (1849) Daniel none none C. C. D. Ohio certification Mace v. Wells 272 (1848) McLean none none Vt. reversed Bodley v. Goodrich 276 (1849) McLean none none C. C. D. La. affirmed Crawford v. Bank of Ala. 279 (1849) McLean none none Ala. dismissed Passenger Cases 283 (1849) none all all multiple reversed Tyler v. Hand 573 (1849) Wayne none none N. D. Miss. reversed Kennedy's Ex'rs v. Hunt's Lessee 586 (1848) Catron none none Ala. dismissed Hugg v. Augusta Ins. & Banking Co. 595 (1849) Nelson none none C. C. D. Md. certification Peck v. Jenness 612 (1849) Grier none none N. H. affirmed Colby v. Ledden 626 (1849) Grier none none N. H. affirmed Shawhan v. Wherritt 627 (1849) Grier none none C. C. D. Ky. affirmed Sadler v. Hoover 646 (1849) Taney none none C. C. S. D. Miss. certification Barnard v. Gibson 650 (1849) McLean none none C. C. N. D. N. Y. dismissed United States v. Boisdore's Heirs 658 (1849) McLean none none S. D. Miss. dismissal denied Missouri v. Iowa 660 (1849) Catron none none original boundary set Jones v. United States 681 (1849) Daniel none none C. C. E. D. Va. affirmed Harris v. Wall 693 (1849) Grier none none C. C. S. D. Miss. reversed Townsend v. Jemison 706 (1849) Woodbury Taney Daniel N. D. Miss. affirmed Hardeman v. Harris 726 (1849) Taney none none C. C. S. D. Miss. certification Cutler v. Rae 729 (1849) Taney Wayne none C. C. D. Mass. reversed Smith v. Hunter 738 (1849) Daniel none none Ohio dismissed McDonald v. Hobson 745 (1849) Nelson none none C. C. D. Ohio reversed Massingill v. Downs 760 (1849) McLean none none C. C. S. D. Miss. certification Udell v. Davidson 769 (1849) Taney none none Ill. dismissed Neilson v. Lagow 772 (1849) Taney none none Ind. dismissal denied Lewis ex rel. Longworth v. Lewis 776 (1849) Taney none McLean C. C. D. Ill. certification van Rensselaer v. Watt's Ex'rs 784 (1849) Taney none none not indicated docketing denied Lawrence v. Allen 785 (1849) Woodbury none none C. C. S. D. N. Y. reversed Backus v. Gould 798 (1849) McLean none none C. C. N. D. N. Y. reversed Nesmith v. Sheldon 812 (1849) Taney none none C. C. D. Mich. certification Stearns v. Page 819 (1849) Grier none none C. C. D. Me. affirmed United States v. King 833 (1849) Taney none McLean, Wayne C. C. E. D. La. reversed