List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 53

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This is a list of cases reported in volume 53 (12 How.) of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1851 and 1852.

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, Bein v. Heath is 53 U. S. (12 How.) 168 (1852).

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 53 U. S. (12 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) Robert Cooper Grier Associate Justice Pennsylvania Henry Baldwin August 4, 1846(Acclamation) August 10, 1846–January 31, 1870(Retired) Benjamin Robbins Curtis Associate Justice Massachusetts Levi Woodbury December 20, 1851(Acclamation) October 10, 1851–September 30, 1857(Resigned)

In Cooley v. Board of Wardens, 53 U. S. (12 How.) 299 (1852), the Supreme Court held that a Pennsylvania law requiring all ships entering or leaving the Port of Philadelphia to hire a local river pilot did not violate the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. The Court decided that the constitutional grant to Congress of power to regulate interstate commerce did not deprive the states of power to regulate maritime pilots; although Congress had legislated on the subject, its legislation showed an intention not to preempt the entire topic. The ruling, however, "empowered the slave states to interfere with interstate commerce to protect slavery."

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 and year Opinion of the Court Concurring opinion(s) Dissenting opinion(s) Lower court Disposition of case Miners' Bank v. Iowa 1 (1851) Daniel none none Iowa dismissed Binns v. Lawrence 9 (1852) Daniel none none C. C. S. D. N. Y. certification Smith v. Clark 21 (1852) Taney none none C. C. D. Mass. dismissal denied Thredgill v. Pintard 24 (1851) McLean none none C. C. D. Ark. affirmed Parks v. Turner 39 (1851) Taney none none C. C. E. D. La. affirmed Montault v. United States 47 (1851) Taney none none S. D. Ala. affirmed Farmers' Bank v. Groves 51 (1851) Nelson none none C. C. D. Louisiana affirmed Lessieur v. Price 59 (1851) Catron none none Mo. affirmed Harris v. Runnels 79 (1851) Wayne none none C. C. S. D. Miss. reversed United States v. Bromley 88 (1851) McLean none none C. C. N. D. N. Y. reversed Neilson v. Lagow 98 (1851) Curtis none none Ind. reversed Williams v. Oliver I 111 (1851) Nelson none none Md. dismissed Williams v. Oliver II 125 (1851) Nelson none none Md. dismissed Dorsey v. Packwood 126 (1852) Grier none none C. C. E. D. La. affirmed Russell v. Southard 139 (1851) Curtis none none C. C. D. Ky. reversed Ives v. Merchants' Bank 159 (1852) Catron none none C. C. D. R. I. affirmed Grand Gulf et al. Co. v. Marshall 165 (1852) Taney none none La. dismissed Bein v. Heath 168 (1852) Taney none none C. C. E. D. La. reversed Wilbur v. Almy 180 (1852) Curtis none none C. C. D. R. I. reversed Erwin v. Parham 197 (1852) Catron none Nelson C. C. D. La. reversed United States v. Moore 209 (1852) Catron none none E. D. La. reversed Lyman v. Bank of the U. S. 225 (1852) Nelson none none C. C. D. Vt. affirmed United States v. Wilkinson 246 (1852) Taney none none C. C. E. D. La. reversed Bond v. Brown 254 (1852) Taney none none C. C. E. D. La. affirmed Dundas v. Hitchcock 256 (1852) Grier none none C. C. S. D. Ala. reversed Clark v. Barnwell 272 (1852) Nelson none none C. C. D. S. C. reversed Teal v. Felton 284 (1852) Wayne none none N. Y. affirmed Achison v. Huddleson 293 (1852) Curtis none none Md. reversed Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia ex rel. Society for the Relief of Distressed Pilots, their Widows & Children 299 (1852) Curtis Daniel McLean Pa. affirmed Union Bank v. Stafford 327 (1852) Grier none none D. Tex. reversed Smyth v. Strader Pevine & Co. 327 (1852) per curiam none none C. C. S. D. Ala. dismissed New Orleans et al. Co. v. Stafford 343 (1852) Grier none none D. Tex. reversed Rich v. Lambert 347 (1852) Nelson none Daniel C. C. D. S. C. reversed United States v. Reid 361 (1852) Taney none none C. C. E. D. Va. certification Bennett v. Butterworth 367 (1852) McLean none none D. Tex. affirmed Sargeant v. State Bank 371 (1852) Daniel none none C. C. D. Ind. affirmed Saltmarsh v. Tuthill 387 (1852) Taney none none M. D. Ala. motion reserved Dinsman v. Wilkes 390 (1852) Taney none none C. C. D. C. reversed Snead v. McCoull 407 (1852) Daniel none none C. C. E. D. Va. affirmed Linton v. Stanton 423 (1852) Taney none none La. dismissed United States v. Porche 426 (1852) Taney none none E. D. La. certification United States v. Simon 433 (1852) Grier none none D. La. reversed United States v. Leblanc 435 (1852) Taney none none E. D. La. reversed United States v. Castant 437 (1852) Daniel none none E. D. La. reversed The Propeller Genesee Chief 443 (1852) Taney none Daniel C. C. N. D. N. Y. affirmed Fretz v. Bull 466 (1852) Wayne none Daniel C. C. E. D. La. affirmed Gaines v. Relf 472 (1852) Catron none Wayne C. C. E. D. La. affirmed