Head Money Cases

1884 United States Supreme Court case

Head Money Cases

Supreme Court of the United States

Argued November 19–20, 1884
Decided December 8, 1884
Full case name| Edye and Another v. Robertson, Collector; Cunard Steamship Company v. Robertson; Same v. Same
Citations| 112 U.S. 580 (more)

5 S. Ct. 247; 28 L. Ed. 798; 1884 U.S. LEXIS 1909; 3 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 2473

Case history
Prior| On writs of error from the Circuit Courts of the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York
Holding
Treaties do not hold a privileged position above other acts of Congress, and other laws affecting their "enforcement, modification, or repeal" are legitimate.
Court membership

Chief Justice
Morrison Waite
Associate Justices
Samuel F. Miller * Stephen J. Field
Joseph P. Bradley * John M. Harlan
William B. Woods * Stanley Matthews
Horace Gray * Samuel Blatchford
Case opinion
Majority| Miller, joined unanimously
Laws applied
U.S. Const.

The Head Money Cases, 112 U.S. 580 (1884), also referred to as Edye v. Robertson, were a group of cases decided together by the United States Supreme Court.[1]

## Background[edit]

Pursuant to the Immigration Act of 1882, officers from the customhouse in the Port of New York began collecting a tax from ships of fifty cents for each immigrant aboard. Multiple ship owners sued because they were transporting Dutch immigrants, and the Netherlands had a treaty with the United States that seemed to prohibit the tax.

## Decision[edit]

The case established the precedent that treaties, which are described in the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution as "the supreme law of the land" equal to any domestic federal law, do not hold a privileged position above other acts of Congress. Hence, other laws affecting the "enforcement, modification, or repeal" of treaties are legitimate.

## See also[edit]

* Passenger Cases: A similar case covering a head tax on British immigrants.
* List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 112

## External links[edit]

* Works related to Head Money Cases at Wikisource
* ^ Text of Head Money Cases, 112 U.S. 580 (1884) is available from: Cornell Justia Library of Congress OpenJurist

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