WILLIAM B. CULBERTSON, APPELLANT, v. THE STEAMER SOUTHERN BELLE; HENRY B. SHAW, WILLIAM M. SHAW, ELAM BOWMAN, SIDNEY A. LACOSTE, AND JOHN DE SEBASTIAN, CLAIMANTS (1856)

WILLIAM B. CULBERTSON, APPELLANT, v. THE STEAMER SOUTHERN BELLE; HENRY B. SHAW, WILLIAM M. SHAW, ELAM BOWMAN, SIDNEY A. LACOSTE, AND JOHN DE SEBASTIAN, CLAIMANTS
	Term: 1855
Important Dates
	Argued: April 30, 1856
	Decided: May 12, 1856
Outcome
	Reversed
Vote
	9-0
Majority
	John Archibald Campbell • John Catron • Benjamin Robbins Curtis • Peter Vivian Daniel • Robert Cooper Grier • John McLean • Samuel Nelson • Roger Brooke Taney • James Moore Wayne

WILLIAM B. CULBERTSON, APPELLANT, v. THE STEAMER SOUTHERN BELLE; HENRY B. SHAW, WILLIAM M. SHAW, ELAM BOWMAN, SIDNEY A. LACOSTE, AND JOHN DE SEBASTIAN, CLAIMANTS is a case that was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States on May 12, 1856. The case was argued before the court on April 30, 1856.

In a 9-0 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the lower court. The case originated from the Louisiana U.S. District Court.

For a full list of cases decided in the 1850s, click here. For a full list of cases decided by the Taney Court, click here.

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About the case

Subject matter: Economic Activity - Liability, other than as in sufficiency of evidence, election of remedies, punitive damages
Petitioner: Water transportation, stevedore
Petitioner state: Unknown
Respondent type: Water transportation, stevedore
Respondent state: Unknown
Citation: 59 U.S. 584
How the court took jurisdiction: Appeal
What type of decision was made: Opinion of the court (orally argued)
Who was the chief justice: Roger Brooke Taney
Who wrote the majority opinion: John McLean

These data points were accessed from The Supreme Court Database, which also attempts to categorize the ideological direction of the court's ruling in each case. This case's ruling was categorized as liberal.