United States v. Quimby was a United States Supreme Court case that dealt with the issue of whether a federal court had the power to issue a writ of habeas corpus to a state prisoner. The case arose when a prisoner, Quimby, was held in a state prison in California and sought a writ of habeas corpus from a federal court. The federal court granted the writ, and the state of California appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court held that the federal court did not have the power to issue the writ of habeas corpus. The Court reasoned that the writ of habeas corpus was a state prerogative, and that the federal court did not have the power to interfere with the state's authority. The Court also noted that the writ of habeas corpus was a remedy for a state prisoner, and that the federal court did not have the power to grant such a remedy. The Court's decision in United States v. Quimby established that the federal court did not have the power to issue a writ of habeas corpus to a state prisoner. This decision has been cited in numerous subsequent cases, and it remains an important precedent in the area of federal-state relations.

In United States v. Quimby, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a federal court had jurisdiction over an action brought by the United States against a defendant for failing to pay taxes on distilled spirits. The majority opinion held that since Congress had not explicitly granted such jurisdiction, it did not exist and thus the case should be dismissed. In his dissenting opinion, Justice Field argued that while Congress may have failed to expressly grant such authority in this instance, they had done so in other cases involving similar matters of taxation and revenue collection. He further noted that if Congress intended for these types of actions to be heard only at state level courts then they would have made their intentions clear through legislation or some other means; however no such indication exists which leads him to conclude that federal courts do indeed possess jurisdiction over tax-related disputes between citizens and the government.