List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 205
# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 205

This is a list of cases reported in volume 205 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1907.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 205 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 205 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) |
| John Marshall Harlan | Associate Justice | Kentucky | David Davis | November 29, 1877 (Acclamation) | December 10, 1877 – October 14, 1911 (Died) |
| David Josiah Brewer | Associate Justice | Kansas | Stanley Matthews | December 18, 1889 (53–11) | January 6, 1890 – March 28, 1910 (Died) |
| 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) |
| Joseph McKenna | Associate Justice | California | Stephen Johnson Field | January 21, 1898 (Acclamation) | January 26, 1898 – January 5, 1925 (Retired) |
| Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Horace Gray | December 4, 1902 (Acclamation) | December 8, 1902 – January 12, 1932 (Retired) |
| William R. Day | Associate Justice | Ohio | George Shiras Jr. | February 23, 1903 (Acclamation) | March 2, 1903 – November 13, 1922 (Retired) |
| William Henry Moody | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Henry Billings Brown | December 12, 1906 (Acclamation) | December 17, 1906 – November 20, 1910 (Retired) |

## Notable Case in 205 U.S.

### Halter v. Nebraska

Halter v. Nebraska, 205 U.S. 34 (1907), was a Supreme Court decision involving a Nebraska statute that prevented and punished desecration of the flag of the United States, and prohibited the sale of articles upon which there is a representation of the flag for advertising purposes. The court held that the statute was not unconstitutional either as depriving the owner of such articles of his property without due process of law, or as denying him the equal protection of the laws because of the exception from the operation of the statute of newspapers, periodicals, or books upon which the flag may be represented if disconnected from any advertisement.

## 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 205 U.S.

| Case Name | Page and year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Schlemmer v. Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway Company | 1 (1907) | Holmes | none | Brewer | Pa. | reversed |
| Tinsley v. Treat | 20 (1907) | Fuller | none | none | C.C.E.D. Va. | reversed |
| Kessler v. Treat | 33 (1907) | Fuller | none | none | C.C.E.D. Va. | reversed |
| Halter v. Nebraska | 34 (1907) | Harlan | none | none | Neb. | affirmed |
| Citizens' Savings and Trust Company v. Illinois Central Railroad Company | 46 (1907) | Harlan | none | none | C.C.E.D. Ill. | reversed |
| Wilmington Star Mining Company v. Fulton | 60 (1907) | White | none | none | C.C.N.D. Ill. | reversed |
| United States ex rel. West v. Hitchcock | 80 (1907) | Holmes | none | none | D.C. Cir. | affirmed |
| Perovich v. United States | 86 (1907) | Brewer | none | none | D. Alaska | affirmed |
| Delamater v. South Dakota | 93 (1907) | White | none | none | S.D. | affirmed |
| United States v. Bethlehem Steel Company | 105 (1907) | Peckham | none | none | Ct. Cl. | reversed |
| Northern Pacific Railroad Company v. Slaght I | 122 (1907) | McKenna | none | none | Wash. | affirmed |
| Northern Pacific Railroad Company v. Slaght II | 134 (1907) | McKenna | none | none | Wash. | affirmed |
| Martin v. District of Columbia | 135 (1907) | Holmes | none | none | D.C. Cir. | reversed |
| Wetmore v. Karrick | 141 (1907) | Day | none | none | D.C. Cir. | affirmed |
| United States v. Mitchell | 161 (1907) | Fuller | none | none | Ct. Cl. | reversed |
| Tracy v. Ginzberg | 170 (1907) | Harlan | none | none | Mass. | affirmed |
| Urquhart v. Brown | 179 (1907) | Harlan | none | none | C.C.W.D. Wash. | reversed |
| Tindle v. Birkett | 183 (1907) | Fuller | none | none | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | affirmed |
| Davidson Steamship Company v. United States | 187 (1907) | Brewer | none | none | 8th Cir. | affirmed |
| Love v. Flahive | 195 (1907) | Brewer | none | none | Mont. | affirmed |
| Hiscock v. Mertens | 202 (1907) | McKenna | none | none | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| Moore v. McGuire | 214 (1907) | Holmes | none | none | C.C.E.D. Ark. | reversed |
| Empire State-Idaho Mining and Developing Company v. Hanley | 225 (1907) | Day | none | none | C.C.D. Idaho | dismissed |
| Rochester Railroad Company v. City of Rochester | 236 (1907) | Moody | none | none | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | affirmed |
| Pearcy v. Stranahan | 257 (1907) | Fuller | White | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Swing v. Weston Lumber Company | 275 (1907) | Fuller | none | none | Mich. | dismissed |
| Gila Bend Reservoir and Irrigation Company v. Gila Water Company | 279 (1907) | Brewer | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. Ariz. | rehearing denied |
| Ballentyne v. Smith | 285 (1907) | Brewer | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. Haw. | affirmed |
| Fields v. United States | 292 (1907) | Brewer | none | none | D.C. Cir. | dismissed |
| Mercantile Trust Company v. Hensey | 298 (1907) | Peckham | none | none | D.C. Cir. | affirmed |
| Johnson v. Browne | 309 (1907) | Peckham | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Hunt v. New York Cotton Exchange | 322 (1907) | McKenna | none | none | C.C.W.D. Tenn. | affirmed |
| W.W. Bierce, Ltd. v. Hutchins | 340 (1907) | Holmes | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. Haw. | reversed |
| Kawananokoa v. Polyblank | 349 (1907) | Holmes | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. Haw. | affirmed |
| The Winnebago | 354 (1907) | Day | none | none | Mich. | affirmed |
| Peterson v. Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company | 364 (1907) | Day | none | none | C.C.N.D. Tex. | affirmed |
| Metropolitan Life Insurance Company v. City of New Orleans | 395 (1907) | Moody | none | none | La. | affirmed |
| Behn, Meyer and Company v. Campbell and Go Tauco | 403 (1907) | Moody | none | none | Phil. | affirmed |
| Quinlan v. Green County | 410 (1907) | Moody | none | none | 6th Cir. | certification |
| Travers v. Reinhardt | 423 (1907) | Harlan | none | Holmes | D.C. Cir. | affirmed |
| Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company v. Williams | 444 (1907) | Harlan | none | none | 8th Cir. | dismissed |
| Patterson v. Colorado ex rel. Attorney General | 454 (1907) | Holmes | none | Harlan, Brewer | Colo. | dismissed |
| Chanler v. Kelsey | 466 (1907) | Day | none | Holmes | N.Y. County Sur. Ct. | affirmed |
| Barrington v. Missouri | 483 (1907) | Fuller | none | none | Mo. | dismissed |
| Whitfield v. Aetna Life Insurance Company | 489 (1907) | Harlan | none | none | 8th Cir. | reversed |
| Harrison v. Magoon | 501 (1907) | Holmes | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. Haw. | dismissed |
| Home Savings Bank v. City of Des Moines | 503 (1907) | Moody | none | none | Iowa | reversed |
| Frank v. Vollkommer | 521 (1907) | Fuller | none | none | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | affirmed |
| Green v. Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company | 530 (1907) | Moody | none | none | C.C.E.D. Pa.. | affirmed |
