# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 37

This is a list of cases reported in volume 37 (12 Pet.) of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1838.

## 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 (these are called "nominative reports").

### Richard Peters, Jr.

Starting with the 26th volume of U.S. Reports, the Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States was Richard Peters, Jr. Peters was Reporter of Decisions from 1828 to 1843, covering volumes 26 through 41 of United States Reports which correspond to volumes 1 through 16 of his Peters's Reports. As such, the dual form of citation to, for example, United States v. Coombs is 37 U.S. (12 Pet.) 72 (1838).

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of 37 U.S. (12 Pet.)

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 37 U.S. (12 Pet.) were decided, the Court for the first time comprised nine justices, its membership having been expanded under the Eighth and Ninth Circuits Act of 1837; they were:
| Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate (Vote) | Tenure on Supreme Court |
| Roger B. Taney | Chief Justice | Maryland | John Marshall | March 15, 1836 (29–15) | March 28, 1836 – October 12, 1864 (Died) |
| Joseph Story | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | William Cushing | November 18, 1811 (Acclamation) | February 3, 1812 – September 10, 1845 (Died) |
| Smith Thompson | Associate Justice | New York | Henry Brockholst Livingston | December 9, 1823 (Acclamation) | September 1, 1823 – December 18, 1843 (Died) |
| John McLean | Associate Justice | Ohio | Robert Trimble | March 7, 1829 (Acclamation) | January 11, 1830 – April 4, 1861 (Died) |
| Henry Baldwin | Associate Justice | Pennsylvania | Bushrod Washington | January 6, 1830 (41–2) | January 18, 1830 – April 21, 1844 (Died) |
| James Moore Wayne | Associate Justice | Georgia | William Johnson | January 9, 1835 (Acclamation) | January 14, 1835 – July 5, 1867 (Died) |
| Philip P. Barbour | Associate Justice | Virginia | Gabriel Duvall | March 15, 1836 (30–11) | May 12, 1836 – February 25, 1841 (Died) |
| John Catron | Associate Justice | Tennessee | newly created seat | March 8, 1837 (28–15) | May 1, 1837 – May 30, 1865 (Died) |
| John McKinley | Associate Justice | Alabama | newly created seat | September 25, 1837 (Acclamation) | January 9, 1838 – July 19, 1852 (Died) |

## Notable Case in 37 U.S. (12 Pet.)
### Rhode Island v. Massachusetts

In Rhode Island v. Massachusetts, 37 U.S. (12 Pet.) 755 (1838), the Supreme Court asserted its original jurisdiction in a case involving one state against another over their shared border. The case involved a boundary dispute between Massachusetts and Rhode Island dating back to colonial times. Daniel Webster was involved in the case, representing Massachusetts.

## 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.
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 37 U.S. (12 Pet.)

| Case Name | Page and year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower court | Disposition of case |
| United States v. Laub | 1 (1838) | Thompson | none | none | C.C.D.C. | affirmed |
| Swayze's Lessee v. Burke | 11 (1838) | McLean | none | none | W.D. Pa. | reversed |
| Benton v. Woolsey | 27 (1838) | Taney | none | none | N.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Second Bank of the United States v. Daniel | 32 (1838) | Catron | none | none | C.C.D. Ky. | reversed |
| Bradstreet v. Thomas | 59 (1838) | Taney | none | none | N.D.N.Y. | dismissal denied |
| M'Kinney v. Carroll | 66 (1838) | McKinley | none | none | Ky. | dismissed |
| United States v. Coombs | 72 (1838) | Story | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | certification |
| M'Niel v. Holbrook | 84 (1838) | Taney | none | none | C.C.D. Ga. | affirmed |
| Town of Georgetown v. Alexandria Canal Company | 91 (1838) | Barbour | none | none | C.C.D.C. | affirmed |
| West v. Brashear | 101 (1838) | Taney | none | none | C.C.D. Ky. | dismissal denied |
| Beaston v. Farmers' Bank | 102 (1838) | McKinley | none | Story | Md. | affirmed |
| Wilson's Heirs v. Life and Fire Insurance Company of New York | 140 (1838) | Taney | none | none | E.D. La. | dismissed |
| Sarchet v. United States | 143 (1838) | Taney | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | dismissed |
| Scott v. Lloyd | 145 (1838) | McLean | none | none | C.C.D.C. | affirmed |
| Zacharie v. Franklin | 151 (1838) | Barbour | none | none | E.D. La. | affirmed |
| Clarke v. Mathewson | 164 (1838) | Story | none | none | C.C.D.R.I. | reversed |
| Clarke v. White | 178 (1838) | Catron | none | none | C.C.D.C. | affirmed |
| Stelle v. Carroll | 201 (1838) | Taney | none | none | C.C.D.C. | affirmed |
| Adams, Cunningham and Company v. Jones | 207 (1838) | Story | none | none | C.C.D.W. Tenn. | certification |
| United States v. Mills' Heirs | 215 (1838) | Wayne | none | none | Fla. Super. Ct. | reversed |
| Levy v. Arredondo | 218 (1838) | per curiam | none | none | Ct. App. Terr. Fla. | reversed |
| Rogers v. Batchelor | 221 (1838) | Story | none | none | D. Miss. | affirmed |
| Lyon v. Auchincloss and Company | 234 (1838) | McLean | none | none | E.D. La. | affirmed |
| White v. Turk | 238 (1838) | McKinley | none | none | C.C.D.E. Tenn. | dismissed |
| Jenkins v. Pye | 241 (1838) | Thompson | Catron | none | C.C.D.C. | reversed |
| Galloway v. Finley | 264 (1838) | Catron | none | none | C.C.W.D. Pa. | affirmed |
| Toland v. Sprague | 300 (1838) | Barbour | Taney; Baldwin; Wayne | Taney; Baldwin; Wayne | C.C.E.D. Pa. | certification |
| Ex parte Story | 339 (1838) | Taney | none | none | E.D. La. | mandamus denied |
| Hepburn v. Dubois | 345 (1838) | Baldwin | none | none | W.D. Pa. | affirmed |
| Bradlie v. Maryland Insurance Company | 378 (1838) | Story | none | none | C.C.D. Md. | affirmed |
| Strother v. Lucas | 410 (1838) | Baldwin | Catron | none | D. Mo. | affirmed |
| Ex parte Poultney | 472 (1838) | Taney | none | none | E.D. La. | show cause denied |
| United States v. Kingsley | 476 (1838) | Wayne | none | none | Fla. Super. Ct. | reversed |
| Ex parte Sibbald | 488 (1838) | Baldwin | none | none | Fla. Super. Ct. | decree granted |
| Reynolds v. Douglass | 497 (1838) | McLean | none | none | D. Miss. | reversed |
| Choteau v. Marguerite | 507 (1838) | per curiam | none | none | Mo. | dismissed |
| Garcia v. Lee | 511 (1838) | Taney | none | none | E.D. La. | affirmed |
| Kendall v. United States ex rel. Stokes | 524 (1838) | Thompson | none | Taney, Barbour | C.C.D.C. | affirmed |
| United States v. Delespine's Heirs | 654 (1838) | Wayne | none | none | Fla. Super. Ct. | affirmed |
| Rhode Island v. Massachusetts | 755 (1838) | Baldwin | Barbour | Taney | original | dismissal denied |
| Massachusetts v. Rhode Island | 755 (1838) | Thompson | none | none | original | withdrawal of appearance |