In the Constitution's necessary and proper clause, congress …show more content…
In 1819, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of loose construction in the McCulloch vs. Maryland lawsuit. In this case, the Maryland legislature placed a substantial tax on the operations of the Baltimore branch of the Bank of the United States. The cashier of the Baltimore branch, James McCulloch, issued bank notes without paying the tax. After Maryland state courts ruled against McCulloch for having broken the state law, he appealed to the Supreme Court, and lost. In their decision, the Supreme Court found that congress was constitutionally allowed to establish the Bank of the United States, and that a tax could not be placed upon it by individual states. They felt that such a tax would be "harming and institution," and declared unconstitutional. Therefore, through loose construction, it was decided that congress still had the power to enforce regulations that they thought would be a benefit to that day's