| Venue: | SCOTUS |
| Facts: | Protectionist state statutes requiring a license to dock in NJ (granted only to NJ companies) and a license to dock in NY (granted only to CA companies... nah, just kidding, it was only for NY companies). Then there's "coastal trade" with the US in general. |
| Posture: | Unknown. |
| Issue: | Are the NY laws which purport to give an exclusive privilege repugnant to the constitution? |
| Holding: | Yes. |
| Rule: | The power to regulate trade between the states is granted to congress; this implies that the states do not retain it. |
| Reasoning: | What is commerce? It includes navigation. What is among? Intermingled with. What is regulate? It is prescribing rules. |
| Dicta: | The constitution is a document of enumeration, not definition. If we don't give it force, it will be an empty thing. |