Cooley v. Board of Wardens

Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 9–11, 1852 Decided March 2, 1852
Full case name	Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia
Citations	53 U.S. 299 (more) 53 U.S. 299 (1852)
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
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney Associate Justices John McLean · James M. Wayne John Catron · John McKinley Peter V. Daniel · Samuel Nelson Robert C. Grier · Benjamin R. Curtis
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), 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.

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 53
• Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

External links

• Works related to Cooley v. Port of Philadelphia at Wikisource
• ^ Text of Cooley v. Board of Wardens, 53 U.S. 299 (1851) is available from:  Findlaw  Justia 
• Summary of Cooley v. Board of Wardens