The Supreme Court Case that Defined States' Rights | Barron v. Baltimore

In episode 69 of Supreme Court Briefs, after the city of Baltimore causes a dude to lose his wharf, he sues the city.

Produced by Matt Beat. All images/video by Matt Beat, found in the public domain, or used under fair use guidelines. Music by @ElectricNeedleRoom (Mr. Beat's band). Download the song here: https://electricneedleroom.bandcamp.com/track/teaching-bad-habits

Mr. Beat's Supreme Court Briefs playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHtE7NbaKRef-x3QBDpwvJsr6i1Z3I6TN

A related case: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eZKcPwWVgs

Here's an annotated script with footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Bk_Ej4oV-E6iONipijfpbLg7hASuNVrPBNgxpTxKw0E/edit?usp=sharing

Check out cool primary sources here:
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1789-1850/32us243

Other sources used:
https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/525/barron-v-baltimore
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/32/243/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barron_v._Baltimore
https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/supremecourt/antebellum/landmark_barron.html

#ushistory #supremecourtbriefs #supremecourt

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Baltimore, Maryland
1815

John Barron owns a deep-water wharf that was among the most profitable in Baltimore Harbor. What’s that? You don’t know what a wharf is? Well, that’s perfectly understandable. I imagine most of the young folks ain’t talking about wharfs these days. A wharf is a safe area for a ship to dock and unload or load stuff.

Anyway, in 1815, Baltimore began a big renovation project to modernize the city’s infrastructure. The city began paving streets, building embankments, and diverting waterways in order to prevent flooding and stuff.

While the city was better off after these improvements, John Barron and his wharf business were not. You see, these improvements caused lots of sand to wash down into Baltimore Harbor. After seven years of this, so much sand had accumulated in the harbor that the waters around Barron’s wharf were now too shallow for most ships to dock. His business was failing.

Desperate, Barron sued the city of Baltimore to make up for his losses. He claimed the city had violated his 5th Amendment rights. Specifically, the Takings Clause of the 5th Amendment, which says that private property will not be taken for public use without “just compensation.” By the way, the government taking private property for public use is also commonly known as “eminent domain.” Anyway, Barron said the city’s destruction of his wharf fell under eminent domain, and he sued for $20,000, which is about $421,000 in today’s money. He won the case, but the Baltimore County court gave him $4,500, or $105,000 in today’s money.

Not only that, the city appealed to the Maryland Court of Appeals, and IT reversed the decision, siding with Baltimore. So Barron appealed again, but this process took years. Finally, the Supreme Court agreed to take on the case, hearing oral arguments in February 1833.

The Court had two big questions to answer. First, does the 5th Amendment prevent LOCAL governments from taking private property for public use without just compensation? And second, did the Bill of Rights AS A WHOLE apply to state and local laws, or did they only apply to federal laws, yo?