Rhode Island v. Massachusetts

(Redirected from State of Rhode Island v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts)

1838 United States Supreme Court case

Rhode Island v. Massachusetts
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided February 21, 1838
Full case name	The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Complainants v. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Defendant
Citations	37 U.S. 657 (more)12 Pet. 657; 9 L. Ed. 1233; 1838 U.S. LEXIS 372
Holding
Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over a suit by one state against another over their shared border
Court membership
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney Associate Justices Joseph Story · Smith Thompson John McLean · Henry Baldwin James M. Wayne · Philip P. Barbour John Catron · John McKinley
Case opinions
Majority	Baldwin, joined by Thompson, McLean, Wayne, Catron, McKinley
Concurrence	Barbour
Dissent	Taney
Story took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

Rhode Island v. Massachusetts, 37 U.S. (12 Pet.) 657 (1838), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court asserted its original jurisdiction over a suit in equity, a boundary dispute between Massachusetts and Rhode Island dating to colonial times.

James I had granted the original charter in November 1621. The dispute, which had lasted over 200 years, was over Narragansett Bay. To settle the dispute, Rhode Island moved for a subpoena on 16 March, 1832. Daniel Webster represented Massachusetts.

The Court determined that the compact between the two colonies made in 1711-1718 should govern the boundary line between the states, and therefore confirmed the existing boundary line, rejecting Rhode Island's interpretation of the colonial charters, which would have put the border further into Massachusetts.

References

^ "Rhode Island v. Massachusetts, 37 U.S. 657 (1838)". Justia Law. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/37/657.html
Ullman, Edward (1939). "The Eastern Rhode Island-Massachusetts Boundary Zone". Geographical Review. 29 (2): 291–302. Bibcode:1939GeoRv..29..291U. doi:10.2307/209948. ISSN 0016-7428. JSTOR 209948.

External links

Text of Rhode Island v. Massachusetts, 37 U.S. (12 Pet.) 657 (1838) is available from: Findlaw Justia Library of Congress OpenJurist

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Pet.	35 (10) 36 (11) 37 (12) 38 (13) 39 (14) 40 (15) 41 (16)
How.	42 (1) 43 (2) 44 (3) 45 (4) 46 (5) 47 (6) 48 (7) 49 (8) 50 (9) 51 (10) 52 (11) 53 (12) 54 (13) 55 (14) 56 (15) 57 (16) 58 (17) 59 (18) 60 (19) 61 (20) 62 (21) 63 (22) 64 (23) 65 (24)
Black	66 (1) 67 (2)
Wall.	68 (1)

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