List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 106
This is a list of cases reported in volume 106 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1882 and 1883.
Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 106 U.S.
The Supreme Court is established by Article Three of [the United States Constitution|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. Since 1789 Congress has varied the size of the Court from six to seven, nine, ten, and back to nine justices.When the cases in volume 106 U.S. were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:
| Portrait | Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate | Tenure on Supreme Court |
| Morrison Waite | Chief [Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|Chief Justice] | Ohio | Salmon P. Chase | – March 23, 1888 | ||
| Samuel Freeman Miller | Associate Justice | Iowa | Peter Vivian Daniel | – October 13, 1890 | ||
| Stephen Johnson Field | Associate Justice | California | newly created seat | – December 1, 1897 | ||
| Joseph P. Bradley | Associate Justice | New Jersey | newly created seat | – January 22, 1892 | ||
| John Marshall Harlan | Associate Justice | Kentucky | David Davis | – October 14, 1911 | ||
| William Burnham Woods | Associate Justice | Georgia | William Strong | – May 14, 1887 | ||
| Stanley Matthews | Associate Justice | Ohio | Noah Haynes Swayne | – March 22, 1889 | ||
| Horace Gray | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Nathan Clifford | – September 15, 1902 | ||
| Samuel Blatchford | Associate Justice | New York | Ward Hunt | – July 7, 1893 |
Notable Cases in 106 U.S.
''United States v. Lee''
In United States v. Lee, , the Supreme Court held that the Constitution's prohibition on lawsuits against the federal government did not extend to officers of the government themselves. The case involved the heir of Mary Anna Custis Lee, wife of Confederate States of America General Robert E. Lee, who sued to regain control of Arlington House and its grounds. Arlington had been seized by the United States government in 1861 and eventually converted into Arlington National Cemetery. The estate had been sold to pay outstanding taxes, but the Lees contested the tax sale as improper, and the Supreme Court agreed.''Pace v. Alabama''
In Pace v. Alabama, the Supreme Court affirmed that Alabama's anti-miscegenation statute was constitutional. This ruling was rejected by the Supreme Court in 1964 in McLaughlin v. Florida and in 1967 in Loving v. Virginia.''United States v. Harris''
In United States v. Harris, the Supreme Court held it unconstitutional for the federal government to penalize crimes such as assault and murder in most circumstances. The Court declared that only local governments have the power to penalize such crimes. In the specific case, four men were removed from a Crockett County, Tennessee, jail by a group led by Sheriff R.G. Harris and 19 others. The four men were beaten, and one was killed. A deputy sheriff tried to prevent the crime but failed. Section 2 of the Force Act of 1871 was declared unconstitutional on the ground that an Act to enforce the Equal Protection Clause applied only to state actions, not to individuals' actions.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 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. 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