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Constitutional Law Keyed to Chemerinsky
Aaron B. Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia
Facts
In 1803, Pennsylvania enacted a law requiring ships entering the Port of Philadelphia (the Port) hire a local pilot to guide them through the Port or pay a fine. The fine was to be paid to the Plaintiff, the Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia (Plaintiff). The Defendant, Aaron B. Cooley Cooley (Defendant), challenged the law’s constitutionality, contending that the Commerce Clause’s provision that Congress could regulate commerce gave them exclusive jurisdiction over commerce and not the states. The Defendant was a consignee of two ships that left port without a local pilot and were found liable under the law. The Plaintiff relied on a 1789 Act of Congress (the Act), which in substance stated that the states could regulate all pilots in the rivers, harbors, and ports until the Congress enacted legislation to the contrary.
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