Willson v. Black-Bird Creek Marsh Co.

Willson v. Black-Bird Creek Marsh Co., 27 U.S. (2 Pet.) 245 (1829), was a significant United States Supreme Court case regarding the definition of the Commerce Clause in Article 1 sec. 8, cl. 3 of the U.S. Constitution.

Willson v. Black-Bird Creek Marsh Co.
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided March 20, 1829
Full case name	Thomas Willson and Others, Plaintiffs in Error v. The Black Bird Creek Marsh Company, Defendants
Citations	27 U.S. 245 (more) 2 Pet. 245; 7 L. Ed. 412
Holding
As long as Congress has not exercised its power over commerce in a certain area, a state may regulate that area as long as such regulations do not conflict with the Dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Court membership
Chief Justice John Marshall Associate Justices Bushrod Washington · William Johnson Gabriel Duvall · Joseph Story Smith Thompson
Case opinion
Majority	Marshall, joined by unanimous
Laws applied
Commerce Clause

Background

Willson, the owner of a sloop who was licensed under federal navigation laws, the Sally, broke through a dam that blocked his passage which was built by the Black-Bird Creek Marsh Co. and had been authorized to do so by Delaware law. The company brought a case against Willson, claiming Delaware authorized the building of the dam on the Blackbird Creek through a law which was passed under the police power of the state in order to clean up a health hazard and there was no legislation by Congress dealing with the same subject matter. Willson claimed that the law authorizing the building of the dam was a violation of the commerce clause. He believed he had a constitutional right to navigating coastal streams and Delaware's actions were motivated by private profits.

Opinion

Chief Justice John Marshall affirmed the lower court's decision, that because no federal law dealt specifically with the situation, and the state law did not violate Congress' Dormant Commerce Clause power, the state law was valid. He did note, however, that the dam might interfere with interstate commerce.

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 27

Bibliography

• Jean Edward Smith, John Marshall: Definer Of A Nation, New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1996.
• Gillman, Howard, Graber, Mark, and Keith Whittington, American Constitutionalism, New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.

External links

• Works related to Willson v. Black Bird Creek Marsh Company at Wikisource
• Text of Willson v. Black-Bird Creek Marsh Co., 27 U.S. (2 Pet.) 245 (1829) is available from: Justia Library of Congress OpenJurist