| Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia | ||||||
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Supreme Court of the United States |
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| Argued Feb 9-11, 1852 Decided March 2, 1852 |
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| Full case name | Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia | |||||
| Citations | 53 U.S. 299 (more) 53 U.S. 299 (1852) |
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| Holding | ||||||
| Commerce Power extends to laws related to pilotage. States' laws related to commerce powers can be valid so long as Congress is silent on the matter. | ||||||
| Court membership | ||||||
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| Case opinions | ||||||
| Majority | Curtis, joined by Catron, Nelson, Grier, Taney | |||||
| Concurrence | Daniel | |||||
| Dissent | McLean, joined by Wayne | |||||
| McKinley took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | ||||||
| Laws applied | ||||||
| Commerce Clause | ||||||
Cooley v. Board of Wardens, 53 U.S. 299 (1852),[1] was a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that a Pennsylvania law requiring all ships entering or leaving Philadelphia to hire a local pilot did not violate the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Those who did not comply with the law had been required to pay a fee. "It is the opinion of a majority of the court that the mere grant to Congress of the power to regulate commerce, did not deprive the States of power to regulate pilots, and that although Congress had legislated on this subject, its legislation manifests an intention, with a single exception, not to regulate this subject, but to leave its regulation to the several states," wrote Justice Curtis for the majority.