| 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 38 (13 Pet.) of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1839.[1]
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 26th volume of U.S. Reports, the Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States was Richard Peters, Jr. Peters was Reporter of Decisions from 1828 to 1843, covering volumes 26 through 41 of United States Reports which correspond to volumes 1 through 16 of his Peters's Reports. As such, the dual form of citation to, for example, Anthony v. Butler is 38 U.S. (13 Pet.) 423 (1839).
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).[2] 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 38 U.S. (13 Pet.) were decided, the Court comprised these nine justices:
| Portrait | Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate (Vote) | Tenure on Supreme Court |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Marshall | (29–15) | – October 12, 1864 (Died) | ||||
| Joseph Story | William Cushing | (Acclamation) | – September 10, 1845 (Died) | |||
| Henry Brockholst Livingston | (Acclamation) | – December 18, 1843 (Died) | ||||
(Acclamation) | – April 4, 1861 (Died) | |||||
| Bushrod Washington | (41–2) | – April 21, 1844 (Died) | ||||
(Acclamation) | – July 5, 1867 (Died) | |||||
| Gabriel Duvall | (30–11) | – February 25, 1841 (Died) | ||||
| newly created seat | (28–15) | – May 30, 1865 (Died) | ||||
| newly created seat | (Acclamation) | – July 19, 1852 (Died) | ||||
See also: United States district court.
See also: United States circuit court.
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.
Bluebook citation style is used for case names, citations, and jurisdictions.
See also: Taney Court.
| Case Name | Page and year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodward v. Brown | 1 (1839) | McLean | none | none | affirmed | |
| Whiting v. Second Bank of the United States | 6 (1839) | Story | none | none | affirmed | |
| van Ness v. Second Bank of the United States | 17 (1839) | Taney | none | none | affirmed | |
| Rhode Island v. Massachusetts | 23 (1839) | Taney | none | none | motion denied | |
| Smith v. Richards | 26 (1839) | Barbour | none | Story | affirmed | |
| Ross v. Duval | 45 (1839) | McLean | none | none | reversed | |
| Andrews v. Pond | 65 (1839) | Taney | none | none | reversed | |
| United States v. Levy | 81 (1839) | Wayne | none | none | C.C.D. Ky. | affirmed |
| United States v. Drummond | 84 (1839) | Wayne | none | none | Fla. Super Ct. | reversed |
| United States v. Burgevin | 85 (1839) | Wayne | none | none | Fla. Super Ct. | reversed |
| United States v. Arredondo's Heirs I | 88 (1839) | Wayne | none | none | Fla. Super Ct. | affirmed |
| Bradley v. The Washington, Alexandria and Georgetown Steam Packet Company | 89 (1839) | Barbour | none | Thompson; Catron; Story | reversed | |
| Second Bank of the United States v. Lee | 107 (1839) | Catron | none | none | affirmed | |
| Second Bank of the United States v. Peter | 123 (1839) | McLean | none | none | reversed | |
| King v. Thompson | 128 (1839) | Catron | none | none | multiple | |
| United States v. Arredondo's Heirs II | 133 (1839) | Wayne | none | none | Fla. Super Ct. | affirmed |
| Wallace v. M'Connell | 136 (1839) | Thompson | none | none | affirmed | |
| Reed's Lessee v. Marsh | 153 (1839) | Taney | none | none | dismissed | |
| Ocean Insurance Company v. Polleys | 157 (1839) | Story | none | none | dismissed | |
| Walker v. Parker | 166 (1839) | McLean | none | none | affirmed | |
| United States v. Hardyman | 176 (1839) | McLean | none | none | certification | |
| Stokes v. Saltonstall | 181 (1839) | Barbour | none | none | affirmed | |
| Clark v. Smith | 195 (1839) | Catron | none | none | reversed | |
| Downes and Company v. Church | 205 (1839) | Story | none | none | certification | |
| Stein v. Bowman | 209 (1839) | McLean | none | Baldwin | E.D. La. | reversed |
| Ex parte Hennen | 225 (1839) | Taney | none | none | mandamus denied | |
| Bend v. Hoyt | 263 (1839) | Story | none | none | certification | |
| Ex parte Hoyt | 279 (1839) | Story | Baldwin | none | mandamus denied | |
| Hardy v. Hoyt | 292 (1839) | Story | none | none | certification | |
| Van Ness v. Hyatt | 294 (1839) | Barbour | none | none | affirmed | |
| Moore v. Bank of the Metropolis | 302 (1839) | Thompson | none | none | affirmed | |
| M'Elmoyle ex rel. Bailey v. Cohen | 312 (1839) | Wayne | none | none | certification | |
| Columbian Insurance Company v. Ashby | 331 (1839) | Story | none | none | affirmed | |
| Moncure v. Dermott | 345 (1839) | McKinley | none | none | reversed | |
| Story v. Livingston | 359 (1839) | Wayne | none | none | affirmed | |
| Wilcox v. Hunt | 378 (1839) | McKinley | none | none | affirmed | |
| Lupton v. Janney | 381 (1839) | Story | none | none | affirmed | |
| The Brig Sarah Ann | 387 (1839) | Wayne | none | none | affirmed | |
| Ex parte Whitney | 404 (1839) | Story | none | none | mandamus denied | |
| Emerson's Heirs v. Hall | 409 (1839) | McLean | none | none | reversed | |
| Williams v. Suffolk Insurance Company | 415 (1839) | McLean | none | none | certification | |
| Anthony v. Butler | 423 (1839) | McLean | none | none | affirmed | |
| Bagnell v. Broderick | 436 (1839) | Catron | none | McLean | affirmed | |
| Keene v. Whittaker | 459 (1839) | Wayne | none | none | dismissed | |
| Carr v. Hoxie | 460 (1839) | Story | none | none | dismissed | |
| Burton v. Smith | 464 (1839) | Barbour | none | none | affirmed | |
| Meredith v. United States | 486 (1839) | Story | none | none | affirmed | |
| Wilcox v. Jackson | 498 (1839) | Barbour | none | none | reversed | |
| Bank of Augusta v. Earle | 519 (1839) | Taney | Baldwin | McKinley | reversed | |