In the case of James B. Peck, William Heilman, and Edwin H. Fresmuth (the appellants) versus John Sanderson (the libellant), the Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether or not a steam-ship called Columbus owned by the appellants had been negligent in causing damage to another vessel owned by Sanderson. The court found that although there were some errors made on behalf of both parties, it was ultimately determined that negligence could not be attributed to either party as neither one had acted recklessly or carelessly enough for such an accusation to stand up in court. As such, no damages were awarded and each party bore their own costs associated with bringing this matter before the Supreme Court.

In the case of James B. Peck, William Heilman, and Edwin H. Fresmuth v John Sanderson, the dissenting opinion was that libelant Sanderson should be awarded damages for his injuries sustained while working on board Appellants' steam-ship Columbus. The majority opinion had found in favor of Appellants based on a technicality regarding how long it took to bring suit against them; however, Justice McLean argued that this technicality should not have been considered as it would lead to an unjust result - denying compensation for someone who suffered injury due to another's negligence or fault simply because they did not file their claim within a certain time frame. Furthermore, he noted that there were no statutes at the time which required such strict adherence to filing deadlines and thus any delay in bringing suit could be excused if reasonable cause existed for doing so. Ultimately then Justice McLean concluded that justice demanded libelant Sanderson receive some form of recompense from Appellants given his injuries were caused by their negligence and failure to provide him with proper safety equipment when performing work aboard their vessel.