WILLIAM E. WOODRUFF, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR, v. FREDERICK W. TRAPNALL (1851)

WILLIAM E. WOODRUFF, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR, v. FREDERICK W. TRAPNALL
	Term: 1850
Important Dates
	Argued: January 24, 1851
	Decided: February 20, 1851
Outcome
	Reversed and remanded
Vote
	4-3
Majority
	John McKinley • John McLean • Roger Brooke Taney • James Moore Wayne
Dissenting
	John Catron • Peter Vivian Daniel • Robert Cooper Grier

WILLIAM E. WOODRUFF, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR, v. FREDERICK W. TRAPNALL is a case that was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States on February 20, 1851. The case was argued before the court on January 24, 1851.

In a 4-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the lower court and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with the Court's opinion. The case originated from the Arkansas State Supreme 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 - State or local government regulation, especially of business (cf. federal pre-emption of state court jurisdiction, federal pre-emption of state legislation or regulation)
Petitioner: State department or agency
Petitioner state: Arkansas
Respondent type: State department or agency
Respondent state: Arkansas
Citation: 51 U.S. 190
How the court took jurisdiction: Writ of error
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 conservative.