List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 179


This is a list of cases reported in volume 179 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1900 and 1901.

Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 179 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. 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 179 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:
PortraitJusticeOfficeHome StateSucceededDate confirmed by the Senate
Tenure on Supreme Court
Melville FullerChief JusticeIllinoisMorrison Waite

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July 4, 1910
John Marshall HarlanAssociate JusticeKentuckyDavid Davis

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October 14, 1911
Horace GrayAssociate JusticeMassachusettsNathan Clifford

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September 15, 1902
David Josiah BrewerAssociate JusticeKansasStanley Matthews

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March 28, 1910
Henry Billings BrownAssociate JusticeMichiganSamuel Freeman Miller

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May 28, 1906
George Shiras Jr.Associate JusticePennsylvaniaJoseph P. Bradley

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February 23, 1903
Edward Douglass WhiteAssociate JusticeLouisianaSamuel Blatchford

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December 18, 1910
Rufus W. PeckhamAssociate JusticeNew YorkHowell Edmunds Jackson

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October 24, 1909
Joseph McKennaAssociate JusticeCaliforniaStephen Johnson Field

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January 5, 1925

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.
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.