| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Type: | Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation |
| Authority: | Constitution of the United States, Art. III, §1 |
| Terms: | life tenure, subject to impeachment and removal |
| Positions: | 9 (by statute) |
This is a list of cases reported in volume 146 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1892.
See also: List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.
See also: List of United States Supreme Court justices by time in office.
See also: List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States by court composition.
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).[1] 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 volume 146 U.S. were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:
| Portrait | Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate (Vote) | Tenure on Supreme Court |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melville Fuller | Chief Justice | Illinois | Morrison Waite | (41–20) | – July 4, 1910 (Died) | |
| Stephen Johnson Field | Associate Justice | California | newly created seat | (Acclamation) | – December 1, 1897 (Retired) | |
| John Marshall Harlan | Associate Justice | Kentucky | David Davis | (Acclamation) | – October 14, 1911 (Died) | |
| Horace Gray | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Nathan Clifford | (51–5) | – September 15, 1902 (Died) | |
| Samuel Blatchford | Associate Justice | New York | Ward Hunt | (Acclamation) | – July 7, 1893 (Died) | |
| Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar | Associate Justice | Mississippi | William Burnham Woods | (32–28) | – January 23, 1893 (Died) | |
| David Josiah Brewer | Associate Justice | Kansas | Stanley Matthews | (53–11) | – March 28, 1910 (Died) | |
| Henry Billings Brown | Associate Justice | Michigan | Samuel Freeman Miller | (Acclamation) | – May 28, 1906 (Retired) | |
| George Shiras Jr. | Associate Justice | Pennsylvania | Joseph P. Bradley | (Acclamation) | – February 23, 1903 (Retired) | |
McPherson v. Blacker, 146 U.S. 1 (1892), concerned a law passed in Michigan which divided the state into separate congressional districts and awarded one of the state's electoral votes to the winner of each district. The suit was filed by several of these electors chosen in the 1892 election, including William McPherson, against Robert R. Blacker, the Secretary of State of Michigan. It was the first Supreme Court case to consider whether certain methods of states' appointments of their electors were constitutional.[2] The Court, in a majority opinion authored by Chief Justice Melville Fuller,[3] upheld Michigan's law, and more generally gave state legislatures plenary power over how they appointed their electors.
See also: United States district court.
See also: United States circuit court.
See also: United States court of appeals.
See also: United States federal courts. 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.
The Judiciary Act of 1891 created the United States Courts of Appeals and reassigned the jurisdiction of most routine appeals from the district and circuit courts to these appellate courts. The Act created nine new courts that were originally known as the "United States Circuit Courts of Appeals." The new courts had jurisdiction over most appeals of lower court decisions. The Supreme Court could review either legal issues that a court of appeals certified or decisions of court of appeals by writ of certiorari.
Bluebook citation style is used for case names, citations, and jurisdictions.
See also: Fuller Court.
| Case Name | Page and year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McPherson v. Blacker | 1 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | affirmed | |
| Van Winkle v. Crowell | 42 (1892) | Blatchford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Cincinnati Safe and Lock Company v. Grand Rapids Safety Deposit Company | 54 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | dismissed | |
| Hubbard v. Soby | 56 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | dismissed | |
| Earnshaw v. United States | 60 (1892) | Brown | none | none | affirmed | |
| United States v. Perry | 71 (1892) | Brown | none | none | reversed | |
| United States v. Schoverling | 76 (1892) | Blatchford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Cross v. Burke | 82 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | dismissed | |
| Foster v. Mansfield, Coldwater and Lake Michigan Railroad Company | 88 (1892) | Brown | none | none | affirmed | |
| Ware v. Galveston City Company | 102 (1892) | Blatchford | none | none | affirmed | |
| City of Bellaire v. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company | 117 (1892) | Gray | none | none | reversed | |
| San Pedro and Canyon del Agua Company v. United States | 120 (1892) | Brewer | none | none | affirmed | |
| Mattox v. United States | 140 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | reversed | |
| Roby v. Colehour | 153 (1892) | Harlan | none | none | affirmed | |
| Morley v. Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company | 162 (1892) | Shiras | none | Harlan | affirmed | |
| Hardee v. Wilson | 179 (1892) | Shiras | none | none | dismissed | |
| Cook v. Hart | 183 (1892) | Brown | none | none | affirmed | |
| Stotesbury v. United States | 196 (1892) | Brewer | none | none | affirmed | |
| Southern Pacific Railroad Company v. Denton | 202 (1892) | Gray | none | none | reversed | |
| Root v. Third Avenue Railway Company | 210 (1892) | Blatchford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company v. District of Columbia | 227 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | dismissed | |
| Junge v. Hedden | 233 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | affirmed | |
| Thompson v. St. Nicholas National Bank | 240 (1892) | Blatchford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Toplitz v. Hedden | 252 (1892) | Blatchford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Hamilton Gaslight and Coke Company v. City of Hamilton | 258 (1892) | Harlan | none | none | affirmed | |
| In Re Cross | 271 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | habeas corpus denied | |
| Wilmington and Weldon Railroad Company v. Alsbrook | 279 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | affirmed | |
| Butler v. Goreley | 303 (1892) | Blatchford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Hallinger v. Davis | 314 (1892) | Shiras | none | none | affirmed | |
| Benson v. United States | 325 (1892) | Brewer | none | none | affirmed | |
| United States v. Dunnington | 338 (1892) | Brown | none | none | reversed | |
| Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company v. Osborne | 354 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | certiorari denied | |
| Joy v. Adelbert College | 355 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | dismissed | |
| In re Engles | 357 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | prohibition denied | |
| McMullen v. United States | 360 (1892) | Harlan | none | none | affirmed | |
| Balloch v. Hooper | 363 (1892) | Harlan | none | none | affirmed | |
| Lewis v. United States | 370 (1892) | Shiras | none | Brewer | reversed | |
| Illinois Central Railroad Company v. Illinois | 387 (1892) | Field | none | Shiras | affirmed as modified | |
| Derby v. Thompson | 476 (1892) | Brown | none | none | reversed | |
| Compania Bilbaina de Navegacion de Bilbao v. Spanish-American Light and Power Company | 483 (1892) | Blatchford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Scott v. Armstrong | 499 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | reversed | |
| Mitchell v. New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad Company | 513 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | affirmed | |
| Brinkerhoff v. Aloe | 515 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | affirmed | |
| National Tube Works Company v. Vallou | 517 (1892) | Blatchford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Royer v. Coupe | 524 (1892) | Blatchford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Cameron v. United States | 533 (1892) | Brown | none | none | dismissed | |
| McGourkey v. Toledo and Ohio Central Railway Company | 536 (1892) | Brown | none | none | affirmed | |
| United States v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company | 570 (1892) | Brewer | none | Field | reversed | |
| United States v. Colton Marble and Lime Company | 615 (1892) | Brewer | none | Field | reversed | |
| Brown v. Marion National Bank | 619 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | dismissed | |
| Means v. Bank of Randall | 620 (1892) | Blatchford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Lloyd v. Preston | 630 (1892) | Shiras | none | none | affirmed | |
| Yesler v. Washington Harbor Line Commissioners | 646 (1892) | Fuller | none | none | dismissed | |
| Huntington v. Attrill | 657 (1892) | Gray | none | Fuller | reversed | |
| Potts v. Wallace | 689 (1892) | Shiras | none | none | reversed | |