The United States Supreme Court heard the case of The United States v. Joseph Hughes in 1851. At issue was whether or not a federal court had jurisdiction to try an individual for murder on board a vessel that was registered as part of the US Navy, but at the time of the crime, it was being used by private individuals and not under any orders from government officials. The appellant argued that since there were no official orders given by government personnel, then they did not have jurisdiction over this matter and thus could not prosecute Hughes for his alleged crimes aboard said vessel. However, after much deliberation, the court found in favor of The United States and held that even though there were no direct orders from government personnel present at the time of commissioning or during its use as a private vessel; due to its registration with US Navy prior to such use meant that it still fell within their purview and therefore they had authority to bring charges against Hughes for his actions onboard said ship.

In the case of The United States v. Joseph Hughes, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a person who had been convicted in state court and sentenced to death could be tried again for the same crime in federal court. Justice McLean wrote a dissenting opinion arguing that it would violate double jeopardy principles if someone were tried twice for the same offense. He argued that although Congress has broad authority over matters related to criminal law, they cannot pass laws which are contrary to constitutional protections such as those found in the Fifth Amendment's Double Jeopardy Clause. Furthermore, he noted that even if Congress did have this power, there is no evidence that they intended their statute on piracy to apply retroactively so as to allow multiple prosecutions for one offense committed prior to its enactment. Therefore, Justice McLean concluded that trying Joseph Hughes again after his conviction by state authorities violated double jeopardy principles and should not be allowed under any circumstances.