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.

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 volume 170 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) 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) 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) Edward Douglass White Associate Justice Louisiana Samuel Blatchford (Acclamation) –December 18, 1910(Continued as chief justice) Rufus W. Peckham Associate Justice New York Howell Edmunds Jackson (Acclamation) –October 24, 1909(Died) Joseph McKenna Associate Justice California Stephen 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.

Citation style

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. "# Cir." = United States Court of Appeals e.g., "3d Cir." = United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit "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

List of cases in volume 170 U.S.

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 Ct. Cl. reversed Leyson v. Davis 36 (1898) Fuller none none Mont. dismissed Budzisz v. Illinois Steel Co. 41 (1898) Shiras none none C.C.E.D. Wis. dismissed Parsons v. District of Columbia 45 (1898) Shiras none none D.C. Cir. affirmed Chicago, et al. R.R. v. Nebraska ex rel. City of Omaha 57 (1898) Shiras none none Neb. affirmed Missouri ex rel. Laclede G.L. Co. v. Murphy 78 (1898) Fuller none none Mo. affirmed Barrow S.S. Co. v. Kane 100 (1898) Gray none none 2d Cir. certification The John G. Stevens 113 (1898) Gray none none 2d Cir. certification Louisville Water Co. v. Kentucky 127 (1898) Harlan none none Ky. reversed American Surety Co. v. Pauly I 133 (1898) Harlan none none 2d Cir. affirmed American Surety Co. v. Pauly II 160 (1898) Harlan none White 2d Cir. affirmed Kipley v. Illinois ex rel. Akin I 182 (1898) Harlan none none Ill. dismissed Kipley v. Illinois ex rel. Akin II 183 (1898) Harlan none none Ill. dismissed Hawker v. New York 189 (1898) Brewer none Harlan N.Y. Ct. Gen. Sess. affirmed Kirwan v. Murphy 205 (1898) Fuller none none 8th Cir. dismissed Humes v. United States 210 (1898) McKenna none none C.C.W.D. Tenn. affirmed Williams v. Mississippi 213 (1898) McKenna none none Miss. affirmed Galveston, et al. Ry. Co. v. Texas 226 (1898) Fuller none none Tex. Civ. App. affirmed Houston et al. Ry. Co. v. Texas 243 (1898) Fuller none none Tex. Civ. App. reversed Selvester v. United States 262 (1898) White Gray (part) none N.D. Cal. affirmed Calderon v. Atlas S.S. Co. 272 (1898) Brown none none 2d Cir. reversed Magoun v. Illinois T. & S. Bank 283 (1898) McKenna none Brewer C.C.N.D. Ill. affirmed Williams v. Eggleston 304 (1898) Brewer none none Conn. affirmed Shaw v. Kellogg 312 (1898) Brewer none none 8th Cir. reversed Thompson v. Utah 343 (1898) Harlan none none Utah reversed Virginia & A.C. Co. v. Central R.R. & Banking Co. 355 (1898) White none none 5th Cir. affirmed Smith v. United States 372 (1898) Peckham none none Sup. Ct. Terr. Ariz. affirmed Stuart v. City of Easton 383 (1898) White none none 3d Cir. affirmed Jolly v. United States 402 (1898) Peckham none none D. Ky. affirmed Havnor v. People 408 (1898) White none none N.Y. Sup. Ct. dismissed Rhodes v. Iowa 412 (1898) White none Gray Iowa reversed Vance v. Vandercook Co. I 438 (1898) White none Shiras (part) C.C.D.S.C. multiple Vance v. Vandercook Co. II 468 (1898) White none none C.C.D.S.C. reversed Andersen v. United States 481 (1898) Fuller none McKenna C.C.E.D. Va. affirmed Plaquemines T.F. Co. v. Henderson 511 (1898) Harlan none none C.C.E.D. La. affirmed United States v. Winston 522 (1898) Brewer none none 9th Cir. affirmed United States v. Garter 527 (1898) Brewer none none Ct. Cl. affirmed Texas & P. Ry. Co. v. Reeder 530 (1898) Brown none none 5th Cir. affirmed Boyden Power-Brake Co. v. Westinghouse Co. 537 (1898) Brown none none 4th Cir. reversed Fink v. United States 584 (1898) White none none 2d Cir. certification Wagoner v. Evans 588 (1898) Shiras none none Sup. Ct. Terr. Okla. reversed Provident Life Tr. Co. v. Mercer Cnty. 593 (1898) Brewer none none 6th Cir. reversed Ledbetter v. United States 606 (1898) Brown none none S.D. Iowa affirmed New York Indians v. United States II 614 (1898) per curiam none none Ct. Cl. reversed Holloway v. Dunham 615 (1898) Peckham none none Sup. Ct. Terr. Okla. affirmed United States v. Salambier 621 (1898) Shiras none none 2d Cir. certification United States v. Lies 628 (1898) Peckham none none 2d Cir. affirmed Hayes v. United States 637 (1898) White none none Ct. Priv. Land Cl. affirmed The Carib Prince 655 (1898) White none Brown 2d Cir. reversed Texas & P. Ry. Co. v. Archibald 665 (1898) White none none 5th Cir. affirmed Kingman Co. v. Western Mfg. Co. 675 (1898) Fuller none none 8th Cir. reversed United States v. Coe 681 (1898) McKenna none none Ct. Priv. Land Cl. reversed

Notes and references

See also Certificate of division

External links Case reports in volume 170 from Library of Congress Case reports in volume 170 from Court Listener Case reports in volume 170 from the Caselaw Access Project of Harvard Law School Case reports in volume 170 from Google Scholar Case reports in volume 170 from Justia Case reports in volume 170 from Open Jurist Website of the United States Supreme Court United States Courts website about the Supreme Court National Archives, Records of the Supreme Court of the United States American Bar Association, How Does the Supreme Court Work? The Supreme Court Historical Society