List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 106

This is a list of cases reported in volume 106 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1882 and 1883.

Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 106 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 106 U.S. were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:



United States v. Lee
In United States v. Lee, 106 U.S. 196 (1882), the Supreme Court held that the Constitution's prohibition on lawsuits against the federal government did not extend to officers of the government themselves. The case involved the heir of Mary Anna Custis Lee, wife of Confederate States of America General Robert E. Lee, who sued to regain control of Arlington House and its grounds. Arlington had been seized by the United States government in 1861 and eventually converted into Arlington National Cemetery. The estate had been sold to pay outstanding taxes, but the Lees contested the tax sale as improper, and the Supreme Court agreed.

Pace v. Alabama
In Pace v. Alabama, 106 U.S. 583 (1883) the Supreme Court affirmed that Alabama's anti-miscegenation statute was constitutional. This ruling was rejected by the Supreme Court in 1964 in McLaughlin v. Florida and in 1967 in Loving v. Virginia.

United States v. Harris
In United States v. Harris, 106 U.S. 629 (1883) the Supreme Court held it unconstitutional for the federal government to penalize crimes such as assault and murder in most circumstances. The Court declared that only local governments have the power to penalize such crimes. In the specific case, four men were removed from a Crockett County, Tennessee, jail by a group led by Sheriff R.G. Harris and 19 others. The four men were beaten, and one was killed. A deputy sheriff tried to prevent the crime but failed. Section 2 of the Force Act of 1871 was declared unconstitutional on the ground that an Act to enforce the Equal Protection Clause applied only to state actions, not to individuals' actions.

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.

Bluebook citation style is used for case names, citations, and jurisdictions.
 * "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