In the 1909 Supreme Court case, The Steamship Jefferson, a dispute arose over damages caused by a collision between two ships: The British steamship "Indrani" and the American steamship "Jefferson". The Indrani was anchored in foggy conditions when it was struck by the moving Jefferson. Initially, both parties were found to be at fault; however, upon appeal to the Supreme Court, this ruling was overturned. It held that only the Jefferson had been negligent as its crew failed to navigate cautiously in poor visibility and did not sound appropriate signals of their approach. Therefore, they violated statutory rules governing navigation which led directly to the accident. Consequently, all responsibility for damages incurred during this incident fell solely on The Steamship Jefferson.

In the dissenting opinion for The Steamship Jefferson case, the justice disagreed with the majority's interpretation of maritime law and its application to this particular case. He argued that a ship should not be held liable for damages caused by ice unless it can be proven that there was negligence on part of the crew or captain. In his view, ice is an inherent risk in sea travel and cannot always be avoided despite taking all necessary precautions. Therefore, he believed that holding ships accountable for such unavoidable risks would set a dangerous precedent and could potentially harm maritime trade as shipping companies might become overly cautious to avoid liability. Furthermore, he pointed out inconsistencies in how similar cases had been handled previously which further reinforced his belief that this ruling was unjustified.