Southern Pacific Co. v. Jensen

Southern Pacific Company v. Jensen
Southern Pacific Company v. Jensen
	Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 28, 1916; Reargued January 31–February 1, 1917; Decided May 21, 1917
Full case name	Southern Pacific Company v. Marie Jensen
Citations	244 U.S. 205 (more) 37 S. Ct. 524; 61 L. Ed. 1086; 1917 U.S. LEXIS 1628; 1996 AMC 2076
Case history
Prior	Error to the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department, of the State of New York
Holding
	State legislation affecting maritime commerce is invalid if it contravenes the essential purpose expressed by an act of Congress, or works material prejudice to the characteristic features of the general maritime law, or interfere with the proper harmony and uniformity of the law in its international and interstate relations.
Court membership
	Chief Justice Edward D. White Associate Justices Joseph McKenna · Oliver W. Holmes Jr.; William R. Day · Willis Van Devanter; Mahlon Pitney · James C. McReynolds; Louis Brandeis · John H. Clarke
Case opinions
Majority	McReynolds, joined by White, Day, Van Devanter, McKenna
Dissent	Holmes, joined by Brandeis, Clarke
Dissent	Pitney, joined by Brandeis, Clarke
Laws applied
	U.S. Const. art. 3, § 2; Judiciary Act of 1789; Federal Employers' Liability Act; New York Workmen's Compensation Act;

Southern Pacific Company v. Jensen, 244 U.S. 205 (1917), was a United States Supreme Court case concerning the geographical extent of state workers' compensation laws. The Court held that the New York Workmen's Compensation Act, as applied to laborers in the New York Harbor, intruded on federal admiralty jurisdiction, and that civil suits arising within this jurisdiction were subject to the common law of the sea. The compensation statute passed by the state interfered with federal power and was therefore unconstitutional.

The case is noted for the dissent written by Justice Holmes, specifically his dicta on the nature of the common law:

The common law is not a brooding omnipresence in the sky, but the articulate voice of some sovereign or quasi sovereign that can be identified.

Southern Pacific Company v. Jensen
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 28, 1916 Reargued January 31–February 1, 1917 Decided May 21, 1917
Full case name	Southern Pacific Company v. Marie Jensen
Citations	244 U.S. 205 (more) 37 S. Ct. 524; 61 L. Ed. 1086; 1917 U.S. LEXIS 1628; 1996 AMC 2076
Case history
Prior	Error to the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department, of the State of New York
Holding
State legislation affecting maritime commerce is invalid if it contravenes the essential purpose expressed by an act of Congress, or works material prejudice to the characteristic features of the general maritime law, or interfere with the proper harmony and uniformity of the law in its international and interstate relations.
Court membership
Chief Justice Edward D. White Associate Justices Joseph McKenna · Oliver W. Holmes Jr. William R. Day · Willis Van Devanter Mahlon Pitney · James C. McReynolds Louis Brandeis · John H. Clarke
Case opinions
Majority	McReynolds, joined by White, Day, Van Devanter, McKenna
Dissent	Holmes, joined by Brandeis, Clarke
Dissent	Pitney, joined by Brandeis, Clarke
Laws applied
U.S. Const. art. 3, § 2 Judiciary Act of 1789 Federal Employers' Liability Act New York Workmen's Compensation Act