# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 163

This is a list of cases reported in volume 163 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1896.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 163 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 163 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:
| Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate (Vote) | Tenure on Supreme Court |
| Melville Fuller | Chief Justice | Illinois | Morrison Waite | July 20, 1888 (41–20) | October 8, 1888 – July 4, 1910 (Died) |
| Stephen Johnson Field | Associate Justice | California | newly created seat | March 10, 1863 (Acclamation) | May 10, 1863 – December 1, 1897 (Retired) |
| John Marshall Harlan | Associate Justice | Kentucky | David Davis | November 29, 1877 (Acclamation) | December 10, 1877 – October 14, 1911 (Died) |
| Horace Gray | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Nathan Clifford | December 20, 1881 (51–5) | January 9, 1882 – September 15, 1902 (Died) |
| David Josiah Brewer | Associate Justice | Kansas | Stanley Matthews | December 18, 1889 (53–11) | January 6, 1890 – March 28, 1910 (Died) |
| Henry Billings Brown | Associate Justice | Michigan | Samuel Freeman Miller | December 29, 1890 (Acclamation) | January 5, 1891 – May 28, 1906 (Retired) |
| George Shiras Jr. | Associate Justice | Pennsylvania | Joseph P. Bradley | July 26, 1892 (Acclamation) | October 10, 1892 – February 23, 1903 (Retired) |
| Edward Douglass White | Associate Justice | Louisiana | Samuel Blatchford | February 19, 1894 (Acclamation) | March 12, 1894 – December 18, 1910 (Continued as chief justice) |
| Rufus W. Peckham | Associate Justice | New York | Howell Edmunds Jackson | December 9, 1895 (Acclamation) | January 6, 1896 – October 24, 1909 (Died) |

## Notable cases in 163 U.S.
### Plessy v. Ferguson

Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), is regarded as one of the worst decisions in U.S. Supreme Court history, solidifying the practice of "Jim Crow". It is a landmark decision in which the Court ruled that racial segregation laws did not violate the U.S. Constitution as long as the facilities for each race were equal in quality, a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal". The decision legitimized the many state laws re-establishing racial segregation that had been passed in the American South after the end of the Reconstruction Era (1865–1877). Despite its infamy, the decision itself has never been explicitly overruled. But a series of the Court's later decisions, beginning with the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education—which held that the "separate but equal" doctrine is unconstitutional in the context of public schools and educational facilities—have severely weakened Plessy to the point that it is considered to have been de facto overruled.

### Wong Wing v. United States

In Wong Wing v. United States, 163 U.S. 228 (1896), the Supreme Court found that the 5th and 6th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution forbid imprisonment without a jury trial for non-citizens convicted of illegal entry to, or presence in, the United States. This case established that non-citizens subject to criminal proceedings are entitled to the same constitutional protections available to citizens. The ruling was issued on the same day as the court upheld racial segregation laws in its infamous Plessy v. Ferguson decision.

### Lucas v. United States

In Lucas v. United States, 163 U.S. 612 (1896), the Supreme Court held that whether a Negro freedman was a member of the Choctaw Nation was a question of fact for a jury, and his non-Indian status may not be presumed.

### Ball v. United States

Ball v. United States, 163 U.S. 662 (1896), is one of the earliest Supreme Court cases interpreting the Double Jeopardy Clause. Departing from the English common law rule, and from early decisions of the state high courts of New York and Massachusetts, the Court held that—under the Double Jeopardy Clause—the insufficiency of an initial indictment did not result in a jeopardy bar of acquittal, as long as the first court had jurisdiction.

## 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 163 U.S.

| Case Name | Page & year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
| Western Union T. Co. v. Taggart | 1 (1896) | Gray | none | none | Ind. | affirmed |
| Farmers' L. & T. Co. v. Chicago, P. & S. Ry. Co. | 31 (1896) | Brewer | none | none | C.C.W.D. Wis. | affirmed |
| Kirk v. United States | 49 (1896) | Brown | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Wiggan v. Conolly | 56 (1896) | Brewer | none | none | Kan. | affirmed |
| Dibble v. Bellingham B.L. Co. | 63 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | Wash. | dismissed |
| Cornell v. Green | 75 (1896) | Gray | none | Brown | C.C.N.D. Ill. | dismissed |
| Lowe v. Kansas | 81 (1896) | Gray | none | Brown | Kan. | affirmed |
| Northern P.R.R. Co. v. Egeland | 93 (1896) | Peckham | none | none | 8th Cir. | affirmed |
| Telfener v. Russ | 100 (1896) | Field | none | none | 5th Cir. | rehearing denied |
| Murray v. Louisiana | 101 (1896) | Shiras | none | none | La. | affirmed |
| Salina S. Co. v. Salina C.I. Co. | 109 (1896) | Shiras | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. Utah | affirmed |
| Barnitz v. Beverly | 118 (1896) | Shiras | none | none | Kan. | reversed |
| United States v. Rider | 132 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | C.C.S.D. Ohio | dismissed |
| Harrison v. United States | 140 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | N.D. Ala. | reversed |
| Illinois C.R.R. Co. v. Illinois | 142 (1896) | Gray | none | none | Ill. | reversed |
| Webster v. Daly | 155 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | dismissed |
| Perego v. Dodge | 160 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. Utah | affirmed |
| Singer Mfg. Co. v. June Mfg. Co | 169 (1896) | White | none | none | C.C.N.D. Ill. | reversed |
| Singer Mfg. Co. v. Bent | 205 (1896) | White | none | none | C.C.N.D. Ill. | reversed |
| Bacon v. Texas | 207 (1896) | Peckham | none | none | Tex. Civ. App. | dismissed |
| Wong Wing v. United States | 228 (1896) | Shiras | Field | Field | C.C.E.D. Mich. | reversed |
| United States v. Winchester & P.R.R. Co. | 244 (1896) | Harlan | none | none | Ct. Cl. | reversed |
| United States v. Laws | 258 (1896) | Peckham | none | none | 6th Cir. | certification |
| Edwards v. Bates Cnty. | 269 (1896) | White | none | none | C.C.W.D. Mo. | reversed |
| Hanford v. Davies | 273 (1896) | Harlan | none | none | C.C.D. Wash. | affirmed |
| Rio Grande W. Ry. Co. v. Leak | 280 (1896) | Harlan | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. Utah | affirmed |
| Knights of Pythias v. Kalinski | 289 (1896) | Brown | none | none | 5th Cir. | affirmed |
| Hennington v. Georgia | 299 (1896) | Harlan | none | Fuller | Ga. | affirmed |
| Huntington v. Saunders | 319 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | 1st Cir. | dismissed |
| Burfenning v. Chicago et al. Ry. Co. | 321 (1896) | Brewer | none | none | Minn. | affirmed |
| Union Nat'l Bank v. Louisville et al. Ry. Co. | 325 (1896) | Brewer | none | none | Ill. | dismissed |
| Webster v. Luther | 331 (1896) | Harlan | none | none | Minn. | affirmed |
| Hilborn v. United States | 342 (1896) | Brown | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| The Steamer Coquitlam | 346 (1896) | Harlan | none | none | 9th Cir. | certification |
| Texas & P. Ry. Co. v. Gentry | 353 (1896) | Harlan | none | none | 5th Cir. | affirmed |
| Southern P.R.R. Co. v. Tomlinson | 369 (1896) | Gray | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. Ariz. | reversed |
| Talton v. Mayes | 376 (1896) | White | none | none | C.C.W.D. Ark. | affirmed |
| Meyer v. Richards | 385 (1896) | White | none | none | C.C.E.D. La. | reversed |
| Bank of Comm. v. Tennessee | 416 (1896) | Peckham | none | none | Tenn. | multiple |
| United States v. Realty Co. | 427 (1896) | Peckham | none | none | C.C.E.D. La. | affirmed |
| Black v. Elkhorn M. Co. | 445 (1896) | Peckham | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| Faust v. United States | 452 (1896) | Shiras | none | none | N.D. Tex. | affirmed |
| Eddy v. Lafayette | 456 (1896) | Shiras | none | none | 8th Cir. | affirmed |
| Grayson v. Lynch | 468 (1896) | Brown | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. N.M. | affirmed |
| Union P. Ry. Co. v. James | 485 (1896) | Brewer | none | none | 8th Cir. | affirmed |
| Missouri et al. Ry. Co. v. Cook | 491 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | Kan. | affirmed |
| United States v. Allen | 499 (1896) | White | none | none | 9th Cir. | reversed |
| Ward v. Race Horse | 504 (1896) | White | none | Brown | C.C.D. Wyo. | reversed |
| Indiana v. Kentucky | 520 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | original | boundary set |
| Plessy v. Ferguson | 537 (1896) | Brown | none | Harlan | La. | affirmed |
| Union P. Ry. Co. v. Chicago et al. Ry. Co. | 564 (1896) | Fuller | none | Shiras | 8th Cir. | affirmed |
| Lucas v. United States | 612 (1896) | Shiras | none | none | C.C.W.D. Ark. | reversed |
| Brown v. Wygant | 618 (1896) | Shiras | none | none | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| United States v. Perkins | 625 (1896) | Brown | none | none | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | affirmed |
| United States v. Fitch | 631 (1896) | per curiam | none | none | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | affirmed |
| Wiborg v. United States | 632 (1896) | Fuller | none | Harlan | E.D. Pa. | multiple |
| United States v. Ball | 662 (1896) | Gray | none | none | C.C.E.D. Tex. | multiple |