The U.S. Supreme Court case Steamer Coquitlam v. United States in 1895 revolved around the collision of two vessels, the American ship William M. Evarts and the British steamer Coquitlam, off Puget Sound's coast in Washington state. The primary issue was determining which vessel was at fault for not following navigation rules to prevent collisions at sea (International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea). The court ruled that both ships were equally responsible because they did not take appropriate measures to avoid a collision when it became apparent that such an event could occur if proper action wasn't taken immediately by either party involved in this maritime incident.

In the dissenting opinion for Steamer Coquitlam v. United States, Justice Brewer argued that the majority's decision to hold a British vessel liable for damages caused by a collision in American waters was unjustified. He contended that international law should govern such incidents and not domestic laws of any one country. According to him, it is inappropriate and unfair to apply U.S. regulations on foreign vessels when they have no knowledge or expectation of these rules before entering U.S waters. Furthermore, he disagreed with the majority's interpretation of "fault" in this context; he believed fault should be determined based on universally accepted maritime principles rather than specific local navigation laws which may vary from place to place.