List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 55
This is a list of cases reported in volume 55 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1852 and 1853.
Nominative reports
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.Benjamin Chew Howard
Starting with the 42nd volume of U.S. Reports, the Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States was Benjamin Chew Howard. Howard was Reporter of Decisions from 1843 to 1860, covering volumes 42 through 65 of United States Reports which correspond to volumes 1 through 24 of his Howard's Reports. As such, the dual form of citation to, for example, Philadelphia & Reading R.R. Co. v. Derby is 55 U.S. 468.Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of 55 U.S. (14 How.)
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.Due to an unfilled vacancy, when the cases in 55 U.S. were decided the Court comprised only these eight members:
| Portrait | Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate | Tenure on Supreme Court |
| Roger B. Taney | Chief [Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|Chief Justice] | Maryland | John Marshall | – October 12, 1864 | ||
| John McLean | Associate Justice | Ohio | Robert Trimble | – April 4, 1861 | ||
| James Moore Wayne | Associate Justice | Georgia | William Johnson | – July 5, 1867 | ||
| John Catron | Associate Justice | Tennessee | newly created seat | – May 30, 1865 | ||
| Peter Vivian Daniel | Associate Justice | Virginia | Philip P. Barbour | – May 31, 1860 | ||
| Samuel Nelson | Associate Justice | New York | Smith Thompson | – November 28, 1872 | ||
| Robert Cooper Grier | Associate Justice | Pennsylvania | Henry Baldwin | – January 31, 1870 | ||
| Benjamin Robbins Curtis | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Levi Woodbury | – September 30, 1857 |
Notable cases in 55 U.S. (14 How.)
''Le Roy v. Tatham''
Le Roy v. Tatham, , is a decision of the Supreme Court holding that an abstract principle can neither be patented nor claimed as an exclusive right.''Stephens v. Cady''
In Stephens v. Cady, , the Supreme Court held that a copyright is only notional property and has no corporeal tangible substance, so cannot be seized or sold in an execution sale.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
List of cases in 55 U.S. (14 How.)