In the Supreme Court case of The Steam-Boat Thomas Jefferson, Johnson and Others v. The Steam-Boat Lexington, Claimants, two steamboats were involved in a collision on the Ohio River. Johnson and others (the claimants) argued that they had been damaged by the negligence of those operating the other boat (the defendant). In response to this claim, the defendants argued that their actions did not constitute negligence as they had acted with reasonable care under all circumstances. After hearing both sides’ arguments, Chief Justice Marshall concluded that there was no evidence to support either party's claims and thus dismissed them both without prejudice. He also noted that it would be difficult for any court to determine who was at fault due to lack of clear evidence or testimony from witnesses regarding what happened during the incident itself. Ultimately he ruled in favor of neither side but instead left it up to future courts if necessary should more information become available about what actually occurred during this unfortunate event on an otherwise peaceful river voyage.

In the case of The Steam-boat Thomas Jefferson, Johnson and Others v. Claimants, the dissenting opinion argued that Congress had no authority to pass a law granting exclusive rights to steamboats navigating on certain rivers. They believed that such an act would be unconstitutional because it was not within their power to grant exclusive privileges or immunities in any particular state or territory. Furthermore, they argued that if Congress did have this power then it should only be used for public purposes and not private interests as was being done here with the steamboat monopoly granted by Congress. Finally, they contended that even if there were some constitutional basis for passing such a law then it should still fail because its purpose was too vague and uncertain; thus making it impossible to determine whether or not those who claimed ownership of the steamboat had been deprived of their property without due process of law as required by the Constitution.