''New Jersey v. Delaware'', 552 U.S. 597 (2008), is a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

case in which

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

sued

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, invoking the Supreme Court's

original jurisdiction In common law legal systems original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision. India In India, the S ...

under (a), following Delaware's denial of oil company BP's petition to build a

liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the vol ...

pipeline and loading facility on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. Delaware denied BP's petition because it violated Delaware's Coastal Zone Act. BP then sought New Jersey's approval of the project. Delaware objected because the construction would require dredging of underwater land within Delaware's borders, which extend to the low-tide mark of the New Jersey shore. BP's proposal had not yet passed New Jersey's approval process when New Jersey and BP filed suit against Delaware. Jurisdiction over rivers that form a border between states is usually determined by dividing the river down the middle between the states; this is not the case with the Delaware River. Delaware-New Jersey's curious border is the result of a grant by King Charles II in 1681, when the

Delaware Colony Delaware Colony in the North American Middle Colonies consisted of land on the west bank of the Delaware River Bay. In the early 17th century the area was inhabited by Lenape and possibly the Assateague tribes of Native Americans. The first E ...

was leased by William Penn from King Charles to become the three lower counties of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The grant extended Delaware's northern border by The Twelve-Mile Circle in

New Castle, Delaware New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The city is located six miles (10 km) south of Wilmington and is situated on the Delaware River. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 5,285. History New Castl ...

, extending across the Delaware River. If the circle were to be extended fully, it would have included a portion of New Jersey, but this was unacceptable because that land had already been granted. As a result, the 12-Mile-Circle terminated at the mean low water mark on New Jersey's shore. The post-1681 border gave present-day Delaware full ownership of the Delaware River along a stretch of the New Jersey border. The case adjudicated by the Supreme Court is the third incarnation of this litigation. The dispute over the border reaches back to the nation's creation. A settlement was reached between the States at the beginning of the 20th century because the costs of litigation had grown too high. The issue remained settled until New Jersey sued Delaware regarding the BP pipeline.

Opinion of the Court

The Supreme Court appointed a

special master In the law of the United States, a special master is generally a subordinate official appointed by a judge to ensure judicial orders are followed, or in the alternative, to hear evidence on behalf of the judge and make recommendations to the jud ...

to review. The Special Master was a practitioner in Maine who had experience in original jurisdiction land disputes. He oversaw production and heard oral arguments in the Third Circuit's court in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. The Special Master made a recommendation to the Supreme Court, and the Court held, in a 6-2 decision, that Delaware has jurisdiction over the subaqueous soil, even though BP proposed to build on New Jersey's side of the Delaware River. The only two dissenting Justices (

Scalia Antonin Gregory Scalia (; March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectua ...

and Alito) are both from New Jersey. Scalia wrote in his opinion, "The New Jersey-Delaware Compact of 1905 (Compact or 1905 Compact), Art. VII, 34 Stat. 860, addressed the “exercise f riparian jurisdiction,” and the power to “make grants … of riparian … rights.” The particular riparian right at issue here is the right of wharfing out. All are agreed that jurisdiction and power over that right were given to New Jersey on its side of the Delaware River." Justice Stephen Breyer recused himself from the case; according to his financial disclosure form, he owned between $15,001 and $50,000 in BP stock.

References

External links

* {{caselaw source , case = ''New Jersey v. Delaware'', {{ussc, 552, 597, 2008, el=no , cornell =https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/134ORIG.ZS.html , courtlistener =https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/145820/new-jersey-v-delaware/ , findlaw = https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/134orig.html , justia = , oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/2007/134_orig , googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=4050025413356906560 , other_source1 = Supreme Court (slip opinion) , other_url1 ={{SCOTUS URL Slip, 07, 134Orig
''New York Times'' article about the dispute
''

Today's Sunbeam ''Today's Sunbeam'' was a daily newspaper in Salem, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1819, it ceased publication in 2012 when it merged with its sister papers the ''Gloucester County Times'' and ''The News of Cumberland County'' to form the ...

'', November 28, 2007.
Courier-Post
November 28, 2007

United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Roberts Court Internal territorial disputes of the United States Borders of Delaware United States Supreme Court original jurisdiction cases Environment of Delaware Environment of New Jersey Borders of New Jersey Legal history of New Jersey 2008 in United States case law 2008 in Delaware 2008 in New Jersey 2008 in the environment BP litigation