Full Text of Case
U.S. Supreme Court
New Jersey v. Delaware, 291 U.S. 361 (1934)
New Jersey v. Delaware
No. 13, original
Argued January 9, 10, 1934
Decided February 5, 1934
Then, with Grotius and Vattel, came the notion of equality of division (Nys, Droit International, vol. 1, pp. 425, 426; Hyde, supra, p. 244, citing Grotius, De Jure Belli et Pacis, and Vattel, Law of Nations), though how this was to be attained was still indefinite and uncertain, as the citations from Grotius and Vattel show. [Footnote 5]
[Footnote 5]
Grotius has this to say (De Jure Belli et Pacis, Book 2, c. 3, § 18):
“In case of any Doubt, the Jurisdictions on each Side reach to the Middle of the River that runs betwixt them, yet it may be, and in some Places it has actually happened, that the River wholly belongs to one Party, either because the other Nation had not got possession of the other Bank ‘till later, and when their Neighbours were already in Possession of the whole River, or else because Matters were stipulated by some Treaty.”
In an earlier section (§ 16, subdivision 2) he quotes a statement of Taxitus that, at a certain point “the Rhine began . . . to have a fixed Channel, which was proper to serve for a Boundary.”
Vattel (Law of Nations, supra) states the rule as follows:
“If, of two nations inhabiting the opposite banks of the river, neither party can prove that they themselves, or those whose rights they inherit, were the first settlers in those tracts, it is to be supposed that both nations came there at the same time, since neither of them can give any reason for claiming the preference, and in this case, the dominion of each will extend to the middle of the river.”
JOHNSON V. EISENTRAGER, 339 U. S. 763 (1950)
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Full Text of Case
U.S. Supreme Court
Johnson v. Eisentrager, 339 U.S. 763 (1950)
Johnson v. Eisentrager
No. 306
Argued April 17, 1950
Decided June 5, 1950
339 U. S. 768-777.
(a) Our law does not abolish inherent distinctions recognized throughout the civilized world between citizens and aliens, nor between aliens of friendly and enemy allegiance, nor between resident enemy aliens who have submitted themselves to our laws and nonresident enemy aliens who at all times have remained with, and adhered to, enemy governments. P. 339 U. S. 769.
(b) In extending certain constitutional protections to resident aliens, this Court has been careful to point out that it was the aliens’ presence within its territorial jurisdiction that gave the Judiciary power to act. P. 339 U. S. 771.
(c) Executive power over enemy aliens, undelayed and unhampered by litigation, has been deemed, throughout our history, essential to wartime security. P. 339 U. S. 774.
(d) A resident enemy alien is constitutionally subject to summary arrest, internment, and deportation whenever a “declared war” exists...
Citizenship as a head of jurisdiction and a ground of protection was old when Paul invoked it in his appeal to Caesar. The years have not destroyed nor diminished the importance of citizenship, nor have they sapped the vitality of a citizen's claims upon his government for protection...
Vattel tells us: “If any of the subjects, whether military men or private citizens, offend against the truce . . . , the delinquents should be compelled
to ...