Gibbons v. Ogden,
22 U.S. 1Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(1824), was a case in which the
Supreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate...
held that the power to regulate interstate commerce was granted to
CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
by the
Commerce ClauseThe Commerce Clause is an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution . The clause states that the United States Congress has the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, and with the Native American tribes...
of the
ConstitutionThe Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America and the federal government of the United States...
. The case was argued by some of America's most admired and capable attorneys at the time. Exiled Irish patriot
Thomas Addis EmmetThomas Addis Emmet was an Irish and American lawyer and politician. He was a senior member of the revolutionary republican group United Irishmen in the 1790s and New York State Attorney General 1812–1813.-Background:...
and Thomas J. Oakley argued for Ogden, while
William WirtWilliam Wirt was an American author and statesman who is credited with turning the position of United States Attorney General into one of influence.-Biography:...
and
Daniel WebsterDaniel Webster was a leading American statesman during the nation's Antebellum Period. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...
argued for Gibbons.
Thomas Gibbons was operating a competing ferry service which had been licensed by Congress in regulating the coasting trade.
Gibbons v. Ogden,
22 U.S. 1Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(1824), was a case in which the
Supreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate...
held that the power to regulate interstate commerce was granted to
CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
by the
Commerce ClauseThe Commerce Clause is an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution . The clause states that the United States Congress has the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, and with the Native American tribes...
of the
ConstitutionThe Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America and the federal government of the United States...
. The case was argued by some of America's most admired and capable attorneys at the time. Exiled Irish patriot
Thomas Addis EmmetThomas Addis Emmet was an Irish and American lawyer and politician. He was a senior member of the revolutionary republican group United Irishmen in the 1790s and New York State Attorney General 1812–1813.-Background:...
and Thomas J. Oakley argued for Ogden, while
William WirtWilliam Wirt was an American author and statesman who is credited with turning the position of United States Attorney General into one of influence.-Biography:...
and
Daniel WebsterDaniel Webster was a leading American statesman during the nation's Antebellum Period. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...
argued for Gibbons.
Case
Thomas Gibbons was operating a competing ferry service which had been licensed by Congress in regulating the coasting trade. Ogden obtained an injunction from a New York court against Gibbons to keep him out of New York waters, maintaining that navigation was not a distinct form of commerce, and was thus a legitimate area of state regulation. Gibbons then sued for entry into the state, and the case was appealed to the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gibbons.
Decision of the Court
The sole argued source of Congress's power to promulgate the law at issue was the
Commerce ClauseThe Commerce Clause is an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution . The clause states that the United States Congress has the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, and with the Native American tribes...
. Accordingly, the Court had to answer whether the law regulated "commerce" that was "among the several states." With respect to "commerce," the Court held that commerce is more than mere traffic—that it is the trade of commodities—it is also intercourse. This broader definition includes navigation. The Court defined "among" as "intermingled with."
Marshall's ruling determined that "a
CongressionalThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
power to regulate navigation is as expressly granted as if that term had been added to the word 'commerce'."
The Court went on to conclude that Congressional power over commerce should extend to the regulation of all aspects of it, overriding state law to the contrary:
- If, as has always been understood, the sovereignty of Congress, though limited to specified objects, is plenary as to those objects, the power over commerce with foreign nations and among the several states is vested in Congress as absolutely as it would be in a single government, having in its constitution the same restrictions on the exercise of the power as are found in the Constitution of the United States.
Ogden filed a complaint in the Court of Chancery of New York asking the court to restrain Gibbons from operating his boats. Ogden's lawyer contended that states often passed laws on issues regarding interstate matters and that states should have fully concurrent power with Congress on matters concerning interstate commerce. The monopoly, therefore, should be upheld.
Gibbons' lawyer, Daniel Webster, argued that Congress had exclusive national power over interstate commerce according to Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution and that to argue otherwise would result in confusing and contradictory local regulatory policies.
The Court of Chancery of New York found in favor of Ogden and issued an injunction to restrict Gibbons from operating his boats. Gibbons appealed the case to the Court of Errors of New York, which affirmed the decision. Gibbons appealed the case to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Importance of the Case
Certain people argue that the decision in
Gibbons v. Ogden survived until 1895, when the court began to limit congressional power with the case of
United States v. E. C. Knight Co.United States v. E. C. Knight Co., 156 U.S. 1 , also known as the "Sugar Trust Case,'" was a United States Supreme Court case that limited the government's power to control monopolies...
, 156 U.S. 1 (1895). Although this marked the start of a 40-year period of history during which the Commerce Clause was limited in scope, during the 1930s the Supreme Court returned to the broad view of the Commerce Clause originally established in Gibbons v. Ogden.
However, another group of people hold a different view of the meaning of Commerce Clause as established in
Gibbons: that it was limited in scope because the decision could be interpreted to say that navigation only pertained to the federal Commerce Clause because it was necessary to business as it allowed for the interstate transportation of goods. Therefore, these unspecified individuals view the
E.C Knight not as a radical departure, but as a continuation of the original jurisprudence.
Note that in
Gibbons v. Ogden the court specifically stated there are limits upon the federal commerce power, but chose not to put into detail what those limits were aside from goods specifically made, moved, and sold within one state were exclusively beyond the reach of the federal commerce power. This part of the Gibbons ruling stands in direct contrast to the post-New Deal decision in
Wickard v. FilburnWickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111 , is a Supreme Court of the United States decision interpreting the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, which permits the United States Congress to "regulate Commerce...among the several States."...
.
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