In the case of Samuel F. Pratt, Pascal P. Pratt, and Edward P. Beals v Charles M. Reed, the Supreme Court was asked to determine whether a steamboat called Sultana had been properly registered with the Collector of Customs in New Orleans as required by law prior to its voyage from that port on April 24th 1856. The claimants argued that they had complied with all necessary regulations and provided sufficient evidence for registration but this was disputed by libellant Charles M Reed who claimed there were irregularities in the process which invalidated it's registration status at time of departure from New Orleans harbour . After considering both sides arguments ,the court concluded that while certain errors may have occurred during registration procedure , these did not affect validity or legality of vessel’s papers and therefore dismissed claim brought forward by Mr Reed against owners & operators of Sultana .

In the case of Samuel F. Pratt, Pascal P. Pratt, and Edward P. Beals v Charles M. Reed, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a steamboat owner could be held liable for damages caused by an explosion on board their vessel that resulted in numerous deaths and injuries among passengers and crew members alike. The majority opinion found that under maritime law, the owners were not responsible for any losses suffered as a result of the accident due to lack of negligence or fault on their part; however Justice Nelson dissented from this ruling arguing that regardless of fault or negligence it is still possible to hold shipowners accountable for such accidents if they are deemed “unavoidable” in nature - which he believed applied here given all reasonable precautions had been taken prior to departure but yet still failed to prevent disaster from occurring nonetheless. He further argued that even though no specific statute existed at the time allowing recovery against shipowners in these cases, there should have been one enacted so as not leave victims without recourse when tragedy strikes through no fault of their own - thus making them whole again after suffering great loss due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control