This is a list of cases reported in volume 15 (2 Wheat.) of ''
United States Reports
The ''United States Reports'' () are the official record ( law reports) of the Supreme Court of the United States. They include rulings, orders, case tables (list of every case decided), in alphabetical order both by the name of the petitioner ...
'', decided by the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
in 1817.
Nominative reports
In 1874, the U.S. government created the ''United States Reports'', and retroactively numbered older privately-published
case reports In medicine, a case report is a detailed report of the symptoms, signs, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of an individual patient. Case reports may contain a demographic profile of the patient, but usually describe an unusual or novel occurrence ...
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 Nominate reports, also known as nominative reports, named reports and private reports, is a legal term from common law, common-law jurisdictions referring to the various published collections of reports of English law, English cases in various court ...
").
Henry Wheaton
Starting with the 14th volume of ''U.S. Reports'', the
was
Henry Wheaton
Henry Wheaton (November 27, 1785 – March 11, 1848) was a United States lawyer, jurist and diplomat. He was the third Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, reporter of decisions for the United States Supreme Court, the ...
. Wheaton was Reporter of Decisions from 1816 to 1827, covering volumes 14 through 25 of ''United States Reports'' which correspond to volumes 1 through 12 of his ''Wheaton's Reports''. As such, the dual form of citation to, for example, ''Beverly v. Brooke'' is 15 U.S. (2 Wheat.) 100 (1817).
Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of 15 U.S. (2 Wheat.)
The Supreme Court is established by
Article III, Section 1 of the
Constitution of the United States
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
, 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
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
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
7 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
7 or seven may also refer to:
* AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era
* 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era
* The month of
July
Music Artists
* Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist ...
,
nine
9 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
9 or nine may also refer to:
Dates
* AD 9, the ninth year of the AD era
* 9 BC, the ninth year before the AD era
* 9, numerical symbol for the month of September
Places
* Nine, Portugal, a parish in the ...
,
ten, and back to
nine
9 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
9 or nine may also refer to:
Dates
* AD 9, the ninth year of the AD era
* 9 BC, the ninth year before the AD era
* 9, numerical symbol for the month of September
Places
* Nine, Portugal, a parish in the ...
justices (always including one chief justice).
When the cases in 15 U.S. (2 Wheat.) were decided, the Court comprised these seven justices:
Notable Case in 15 U.S. (2 Wheat.)
''Laidlaw v. Organ''
''
Laidlaw v. Organ
''Laidlaw v. Organ'', 15 U.S. (2 Wheat.) 178 (1817), is a case decided by the US Supreme Court that established ''caveat emptor'' in the United States.
Facts
Organ purchased 111 hogsheads of tobacco (111,000 pounds) from Laidlaw & Co. on February ...
''
15 U.S. (2 Wheat.) 178 (1817) established the rule of ''
caveat emptor'' in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The Supreme Court's opinion can be interpreted to mean that withholding information calculated to deceive the other party can cause a contract to be void on
equitable grounds. ''Laidlaw'' has been recognized by US legal scholars as a central case in the history of
US contract law
Contract law regulates the obligations established by agreement, whether express or implied, between private parties in the United States. The law of contracts varies from state to state; there is nationwide federal contract law in certain areas, s ...
. It was the first case in which the Supreme Court adopted the rule of ''caveat emptor'' and "was one of the first cases to come before the
upremeCourt involving a contract for future delivery of a
commodity
In economics, a commodity is an economic good, usually a resource, that has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them.
The price of a comm ...
."
It is also the first case to start to articulate a doctrine of forbidding active concealment.
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
In common law legal systems original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision.
India
In India, the S ...
(''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
''The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation'' is a style guide that prescribes the most widely used legal citation system in the United States. It is taught and used at a majority of U.S. law schools and is also used in a majority of federal ...
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." =
* "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." =
* "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
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme Ju ...
** ''e.g.,''"Me." =
Supreme Judicial Court of Maine
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the state of Maine's judicial system. It is composed of seven justices, who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Maine Senate. From 1820 until 1839, justices served lifetime ...
List of cases in 15 U.S. (2 Wheat.)
Notes and references
See also
*
certificate of division
External links
Case reports in volume 15 (2 Wheat.) from Court Listener
Case reports in volume 15 (2 Wheat.) from the Caselaw Access Project of
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
Case reports in volume 15 (2 Wheat.) from Google Scholar
Case reports in volume 15 (2 Wheat.) from Justia
Case reports in volume 15 (2 Wheat.) from Open Jurist
Website of the United States Supreme CourtUnited States Courts website about the Supreme Court*
ttps://www.americanbar.org/groups/young_lawyers/publications/after-the-bar/essentials/how-does-the-supreme-court-work/ American Bar Association, How Does the Supreme Court Work?The Supreme Court Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Supreme Court cases by volume
1817 in United States case law