On February 20, 1809 United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for a unanimous Court, ruled in United States v. Peters that the power of the Federal Government is greater than the power of any individual state. In the case United States v. Peters, a Connecticut privateer named Gideon Olmstead was captured by the British Navy during the Revolutionary War and forced to work on the Active. However, Olmstead and his shipmates overcame the British crew, but then they were captured by the Convention, an armed brig that belonged to the state of Pennsylvania, and the Le Gerard. The captains of the ships claimed any profit from the sale of the captured ship and its cargo as their own. This was a problem for Olmstead and his shipmates …show more content…
Under this arrangement, Olmstead and his shipmates would receive only one quarter of the total value of the ship. Olmstead and his fellows filed an appeal with the Court of Commissioners of Appeals in Prize Causes for the United States. On 15 December 1778, this U.S. appeals court reversed the Pennsylvania court's ruling and directed that the proceeds from the ship's sale should be directed to Olmstead and his shipmates. However, Court of Admiralty Judge George Ross would not honor the appeal court's verdict, and the case was taken to the Supreme Court ("United States v. Peters - The Fate Of The Active."). Therefore, this case ruled that the power to make final decisions about the constitutionality of federal laws lies with the federal courts, not the states, and the states do not have the power to nullify federal laws. Nullification is a theory that states can overturn federal laws, but the Supreme Court does not honor this …show more content…
In 1854, abolitionist editor Sherman Booth was arrested for violating the Fugitive Slave Act when he helped motivate a mob to rescue an escaped slave, Joshua Glover, in Wisconsin from US Marshal Stephen Ableman. During this time the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 stated that any runaway slave that was captured was to be returned back to their master no matter what state the slave was captured in. A Wisconsin judge ordered Booth to be released from federal custody, and the US Marshal appealed to the state supreme court, which ruled the federal law unconstitutional and affirmed Booth's release. When Ableman turned to the federal courts, the Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to recognize the authority of the federal courts, again ordered Booth's release, and declared the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 unconstitutional ("Ableman V. Booth."). The Wisconsin Supreme Court thereby attempted to annul the judgment of the federal court. The Wisconsin Supreme Court had effectively asserted the supremacy of state courts over federal courts in cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States. The Supreme Court noted that if the Wisconsin courts could nullify the judgment of conviction by a federal court in this case, then any state court could annul any conviction under federal law. The Supreme Court ruled that the states do not have that