List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 170 explained

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 170 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1898.

Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 170 U.S.

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 170 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:

PortraitJusticeOfficeHome StateSucceededDate confirmed by the Senate
(Vote)
Tenure on Supreme Court
Melville FullerChief JusticeIllinoisMorrison Waite
(41–20)


July 4, 1910
(Died)
John Marshall HarlanAssociate JusticeKentuckyDavid Davis
(Acclamation)


October 14, 1911
(Died)
Horace GrayAssociate JusticeMassachusettsNathan Clifford
(51–5)


September 15, 1902
(Died)
David Josiah BrewerAssociate JusticeKansasStanley Matthews
(53–11)


March 28, 1910
(Died)
Henry Billings BrownAssociate JusticeMichiganSamuel Freeman Miller
(Acclamation)


May 28, 1906
(Retired)
George Shiras Jr.Associate JusticePennsylvaniaJoseph P. Bradley
(Acclamation)


February 23, 1903
(Retired)
Edward Douglass WhiteAssociate JusticeLouisianaSamuel Blatchford
(Acclamation)


December 18, 1910
(Continued as chief justice)
Rufus W. PeckhamAssociate JusticeNew YorkHowell Edmunds Jackson
(Acclamation)


October 24, 1909
(Died)
Joseph McKennaAssociate JusticeCaliforniaStephen Johnson Field
(Acclamation)


January 5, 1925
(Retired)

Notable Case in 170 U.S.

Williams v. Mississippi

In Williams v. Mississippi, 170 U.S. 213 (1898), the Supreme Court upheld provisions of the 1890 Mississippi constitution and its statutes that set requirements for voter registration, including poll tax, literacy tests, the grandfather clause, and the requirement that only registered voters could serve on juries. The plaintiff, Henry Williams, claimed that Mississippi’s voting laws were upheld with the intent to disenfranchise African Americans, thus violating the Fourteenth Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court did not find discrimination in the state's laws because, even though the laws made discrimination possible, the laws themselves did not on the face discriminate against African Americans. The court found that any discrimination toward African Americans was performed by the administrative officers enforcing the law and that (at the time) there was no judicial remedy for this kind of discrimination.[2]

Citation style

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.

List of cases in volume 170 U.S.

See also: Fuller Court.

Case Name Page & year Opinion of the Court Concurring opinion(s) Dissenting opinion(s) Lower Court Disposition
New York Indians v. United States I 1 (1898) Brown none none reversed
Leyson v. Davis 36 (1898) Fuller none none dismissed
Budzisz v. Illinois Steel Co. 41 (1898) Shiras none none dismissed
Parsons v. District of Columbia 45 (1898) Shiras none none affirmed
Chicago, et al. R.R. v. Nebraska ex rel. City of Omaha 57 (1898) Shiras none none affirmed
Missouri ex rel. Laclede G.L. Co. v. Murphy 78 (1898) Fuller none none affirmed
Barrow S.S. Co. v. Kane 100 (1898) Gray none none certification
The John G. Stevens 113 (1898) Gray none none certification
Louisville Water Co. v. Kentucky 127 (1898) Harlan none none reversed
American Surety Co. v. Pauly I 133 (1898) Harlan none none affirmed
American Surety Co. v. Pauly II 160 (1898) Harlan none White affirmed
Kipley v. Illinois ex rel. Akin I 182 (1898) Harlannone none dismissed
Kipley v. Illinois ex rel. Akin II 183 (1898) Harlannone none dismissed
Hawker v. New York 189 (1898) Brewer none Harlan N.Y. Ct. Gen. Sess.affirmed
Kirwan v. Murphy 205 (1898) Fuller none none dismissed
Humes v. United States 210 (1898) McKenna none none affirmed
Williams v. Mississippi 213 (1898) McKenna none none affirmed
Galveston, et al. Ry. Co. v. Texas 226 (1898) Fuller none none affirmed
Houston et al. Ry. Co. v. Texas 243 (1898) Fuller none none reversed
Selvester v. United States 262 (1898) WhiteGray (part) none affirmed
Calderon v. Atlas S.S. Co. 272 (1898) Brown none none reversed
Magoun v. Illinois T. & S. Bank 283 (1898) McKenna none Brewer affirmed
Williams v. Eggleston 304 (1898) Brewer none none affirmed
Shaw v. Kellogg 312 (1898) Brewer none none reversed
Thompson v. Utah 343 (1898) Harlan none none reversed
Virginia & A.C. Co. v. Central R.R. & Banking Co. 355 (1898) Whitenone none affirmed
Smith v. United States 372 (1898) Peckham none none affirmed
Stuart v. City of Easton 383 (1898) Whitenone none affirmed
Jolly v. United States 402 (1898) Peckham none none affirmed
Havnor v. People 408 (1898) Whitenone nonedismissed
Rhodes v. Iowa 412 (1898) Whitenone Gray reversed
Vance v. Vandercook Co. I 438 (1898) Whitenone Shiras (part) multiple
Vance v. Vandercook Co. II 468 (1898) Whitenone none reversed
Andersen v. United States 481 (1898) Fuller none McKenna affirmed
Plaquemines T.F. Co. v. Henderson 511 (1898) Harlan none none affirmed
United States v. Winston 522 (1898) Brewer none none affirmed
United States v. Garter 527 (1898) Brewer none none affirmed
Texas & P. Ry. Co. v. Reeder 530 (1898) Brown none none affirmed
Boyden Power-Brake Co. v. Westinghouse Co. 537 (1898) Brown none none reversed
Fink v. United States 584 (1898) Whitenone none certification
Wagoner v. Evans 588 (1898) Shiras none none reversed
Provident Life Tr. Co. v. Mercer Cnty. 593 (1898) Brewer none none reversed
Ledbetter v. United States 606 (1898) Brown none none affirmed
New York Indians v. United States II 614 (1898) per curiamnone none reversed
Holloway v. Dunham 615 (1898) Peckham none none affirmed
United States v. Salambier 621 (1898) Shiras none none certification
United States v. Lies 628 (1898) Peckham none none affirmed
Hayes v. United States 637 (1898) Whitenone none affirmed
The Carib Prince 655 (1898) Whitenone Brown reversed
Texas & P. Ry. Co. v. Archibald 665 (1898) Whitenone none affirmed
Kingman Co. v. Western Mfg. Co. 675 (1898) Fuller none none reversed
United States v. Coe 681 (1898) McKenna none none reversed

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Supreme Court Research Guide . 7 April 2021 . Georgetown Law Library.
  2. Web site: Williams v. Mississippi. Mississippi Encyclopedia . Brown . Amanda . 6 March 2020 .