List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 6

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This is a list of cases reported in volume 6 (2 Cranch) of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1804 and 1805.

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 5th volume of U. S. Reports, the Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States was William Cranch. Cranch was Reporter of Decisions from 1801 to 1815, covering volumes 5 through 13 of United States Reports which correspond to volumes 1 through 9 of his Cranch's Reports. As such, the complete citation to, for example, Wood v. Wagnon is 6 U. S. (2 Cranch) 10 (1804).

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 6 U. S. (2 Cranch) were decided, the Court comprised these six justices:

Portrait Justice Office Home State Succeeded Date confirmed by the Senate(Vote) Tenure on Supreme Court John Marshall Chief Justice Virginia Oliver Ellsworth January 27, 1801(Acclamation) February 4, 1801–July 6, 1835(Died) William Cushing Associate Justice Massachusetts original seat established September 26, 1789(Acclamation) February 2, 1790–September 13, 1810(Died) William Paterson Associate Justice New Jersey Thomas Johnson March 4, 1793(Acclamation) March 11, 1793–September 8, 1806(Died) Samuel Chase Associate Justice Maryland John Blair, Jr. January 27, 1796(Acclamation) February 4, 1796–June 19, 1811(Died) Bushrod Washington Associate Justice Virginia James Wilson December 20, 1798(Acclamation) November 9, 1798(Recess Appointment)–November 26, 1829(Died) William Johnson Associate Justice South Carolina Alfred Moore March 24, 1804(Acclamation) May 7, 1804–August 4, 1834(Died)

In Little v. Barreme, 6 U. S. (2 Cranch) 170 (1804), the Supreme Court held that the President of the United States does not have "inherent authority" or "inherent powers" to ignore a law passed by the US Congress.

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

NOTE: Some decisions have alternate pagination, indicated by "{ }." Case Name Page & year Opinion of the Court Concurring opinion(s) Dissenting opinion(s) Lower court Disposition Williams v. Lyles 10 {9} (1804) per curiam none none C. C. D. C. affirmed Wood v. Wagnon 10 {9} (1804) per curiam none none C. C. D. Ga. reversed Faw v. Marsteller 10 (1804) Marshall none none C. C. D. C. reversed Ogle v. Lee 32 {33} (1804) per curiam none none not indicated certification Pennington v. Coxe 33 (1804) Marshall none none C. C. D. Pa. reversed The Schooner Charming Betsy 64 (1804) Marshall none none C. C. D. Pa. reversed Capron v. Van Noorden 126 (1804) per curiam none none C. C. D. N. C. reversed Head v. Providence Insurance Company 127 (1804) Marshall Chase none C. C. D. R. I. reversed Little v. Barreme 170 (1804) Marshall none none C. C. D. Mass. affirmed Dunlop and Company v. Ball 180 (1804) Marshall none none C. C. D. C. reversed Blakeney v. Evans 186 {185} (1804) per curiam none none C. C. D. C. affirmed Church v. Hubbart 187 (1804) Cushing none none C. C. D. Mass. reversed The Ship Blaireau 240 (1804) Marshall none none C. C. D. Md. affirmed Ogden v. Blackledge 272 (1804) Cushing none none C. C. D. N. C. certification McIlvaine v. Coxe's Lessee 280 (1805) per curiam none none C. C. D. N. J. no decision in this report Adams v. Woods 336 (1805) Marshall none none C. C. D. Mass. certification Winchester v. Hackley 342 (1805) per curiam none none C. C. D. Va. affirmed Reily v. Lamar 344 (1805) Marshall none none C. C. D. C. dismissed United States v. Fisher 358 (1805) Marshall none none C. C. D. Pa. reversed Bailiff v. Tipping 406 (1805) per curiam none none C. C. D. Ky. dismissed The Schooner Sally 406 (1805) per curiam none none C. C. D. Md. affirmed Telfair v. Stead's Executors 407 (1805) Marshall none none C. C. D. Ga. affirmed Graves v. Boston Marine Insurance Company 419 (1805) Marshall none none C. C. D. Mass. affirmed Hepburn v. Ellzey 445 (1805) Marshall none none C. C. D. Va. certification