Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/497/376/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 08:45:39+00:00

Document:
stream," "reserving all islands in [the river] to Georgia. . . ." In 1922, the Treaty was interpreted to mean, inter alia, that where there is no island in the river, the boundary is midway between the banks, and where there is an island, the boundary is midway between the island and the South Carolina shore. Georgia v. South Carolina, 259 U. S. 572. The Special Master has submitted two Reports, making several boundary recommendations. Both States have filed exceptions.
1. The Special Master's determination that the Barnwell Islands are in South Carolina is adopted. Georgia's exception is overruled. South Carolina has established sovereignty over the islands by prescription and acquiescence, as evidenced by its grant of the islands in 1813, and its taxation, policing, and patrolling of the property. Georgia cannot avoid this evidence's effect by contending that it had no reasonable notice of South Carolina's actions. Inaction alone may constitute acquiescence when it continues for a sufficiently long period, See Rhode Island v. Massachusetts, 15 Pet. 233, 40 U. S. 274, and there has been more than inaction on Georgia's part. It was charged with knowing that the Treaty placed all of the Savannah River islands in Georgia, yet, despite the fact that cultivation was readily discernible, there is virtually no record of its taxation of, or other sovereign action over, these lands. A 1955 Court of Appeals' decision in a condemnation proceeding by the Federal Government, which recognized Georgia's sovereignty over the islands, cannot be regarded as fixing the boundary between the States. Pp. 497 U. S. 388-393.
2. The Special Master's determination that the islands emerging in the river after the 1787 Treaty do not affect the boundary line between the States is adopted, and Georgia's exception is overruled. Georgia's suggestion that the boundary in the vicinity of each new island runs between that island and the South Carolina shore would create a regime of continually shifting jurisdiction, by creating a new "northern branch or stream" for even the smallest emerging island no matter how near the South Carolina shoreline, and would frustrate the purpose of the Treaty, which purports to fix the boundary "forever hereafter." Construing the Treaty to avoid sudden boundary changes would be more consistent with this language, and also comports with the simplicity and finality of the Court's 1922 reading of the Treaty and with the respect for settled expectations that generally attends the drawing of interstate boundaries, cf. Virginia v. Tennessee, 148 U. S. 503, 148 U. S. 522-525. Pp. 497 U. S. 394-398.
3. The Special Master's conclusion that Oyster Bed Island is in South Carolina and that the southern side of the Savannah's mouth is Tybee Island while the northern side is an underwater shoal is adopted. Georgia's exception is overruled. Customarily, a boundary would be drawn to an opposing headland. However, due to the uncommon type of river mouth here, Tybee Island has no counterpart of high land on the northern side. Rather, the geographical feature taking its place is the shoal, long recognized as confining the river. To accept Georgia's proposition that the northern side should be the closest South Carolina headlands -- islands that are so distant that they cannot even be said to touch the river -- would result in having Georgia's waters lie directly seaward of South Carolina's coast and waters. Pp. 497 U. S. 398-400.
4. In drawing the boundary line around islands on the South Carolina side of the river's thread, when the midline of the stream encounters an island and must move northward to become the line midway between the island bank and the South Carolina shore, the Special Master erred in invoking a right-angle principle -- i.e., using the line midway between the island and the shore until the island ends and the boundary reverts to the middle of the river, and then using right-angle lines to connect the island-to-bank center line with the bank-to-bank center line by the shortest distance. Georgia's exception is sustained. Georgia's approach -- to use a point "triequidistant" from the South Carolina shore, the island shore, and the Georgia shore, resulting in a boundary that would pass through this point and otherwise be equidistant from the South Carolina shore and the Georgia shore, or island -- is sensible, less artificial, fair to both States, and generally in line with what the Court said in 1922. Pp. 497 U. S. 400-402.
5. The Special Master's determination that additions to Denwill and Horseshoe Shoal be awarded to Georgia is adopted, and South Carolina's exception is overruled. The rapidity of some aspects of dredging and other processes used by the Army Corps of Engineers to improve the river's navigation channel support the Master's recommendation that the changes in the Savannah River were caused primarily by avulsion rather than the natural and gradual process of erosion and accretion. Pp. 497 U. S. 402-405.
6. Since the Special Master's Second Report clarified any confusion that may have existed with regard to how the recommended boundary line affects Bird Island, the boundary dispute as to this island has been eliminated, and South Carolina's exception, initially made, is overruled. P. 497 U. S. 405.
7. The Special Master's determination of the lateral seaward boundary between the States is adopted. His line continues down the river's mouth until it intersects a line, from Tybee Island's most northern point to Hilton Head Island's most southern point, where it proceeds out to sea perpendicularly to that line. His recommendation gives equitable balance and recognition to the so-called equidistant principle, Texas v. Louisiana, 426 U. S. 465, and to the inland boundary between the States, and does so with the least possible offense to any claimed parallel between offshore territory and the coast itself. The States' respective exceptions are overruled. Pp. 497 U. S. 405-408.
BLACKMUN, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court with respect to Parts I, II, III, and VIII, and the opinion of the Court with respect to Part IV, in which BRENNAN, WHITE, MARSHALL, STEVENS, O'CONNOR, and SCALIA, JJ., joined; with respect to Part V, in which BRENNAN, WHITE, MARSHALL, STEVENS, O'CONNOR, and SCALIA, JJ., joined, and in which REHNQUIST, C.J., and KENNEDY, J., joined except for a portion thereof; with respect to Part VI, in which REHNQUIST, C.J., and BRENNAN, STEVENS, O'CONNOR, SCALIA, and KENNEDY, JJ., joined; with respect to Part VII, in which REHNQUIST, C.J., and BRENNAN, WHITE, MARSHALL, STEVENS, and O'CONNOR, JJ., joined; and with respect to Part IX, in which REHNQUIST, C.J., and BRENNAN, WHITE, MARSHALL, O'CONNOR, and KENNEDY, JJ., joined. WHITE, J., filed an opinion dissenting in part, in which MARSHALL, J., joined, post, p. 497 U. S. 410. STEVENS, J., filed an opinion dissenting in part, in which SCALIA, J., joined, post, p. 412. SCALIA, J., filed an opinion dissenting in part, in which KENNEDY, J., joined, post, p. 497 U. S. 413. KENNEDY, J., filed an opinion dissenting in part, in which REHNQUIST, C.J., joined, post, p. 497 U. S. 413.
This litigation was instituted in August 1977, pursuant to Art. III, § 2, cl. 2, of the United States Constitution and 28 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(1) (1976 ed.), by the presentation to this Court of a motion by the State of Georgia for leave to file a complaint against the State of South Carolina. The suit was the culmination of a prolonged dispute between the two States over the location of their boundary along the lower reaches of the Savannah River (that is, downstream from the city of Savannah) and at the river's mouth. The two States also are in disagreement as to their lateral seaward boundary.
We granted leave to Georgia to file its complaint. 434 U.S. 917 (1977). The Honorable Walter E. Hoffman, Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, was appointed Special Master with the authority customarily granted in litigation of this kind. 434 U.S. 1057 (1978). South Carolina, in due course, filed its answer and counterclaims.
questions between South Carolina and Georgia. Indeed, this is not the first, but the third, occasion that some issue concerning that boundary has come before this Court.
The first case is South Carolina v. Georgia, 93 U. S. 4 (1876). South Carolina filed a bill in equity for an injunction restraining Georgia and certain federal officials from "obstructing or interrupting" navigation on the Savannah River. This Court dismissed the bill. It ruled that the 1787 Treaty had no effect upon the power of Congress to regulate commerce among the several States. Congress' power over the river was the same as it possessed over other navigable waters. Thus, Congress could close one of the several channels in the river if, in its judgment, navigation thereby would be improved.
"The boundary line between Georgia and South Carolina is not in dispute as between these sovereigns. . . . There is, there can be, no doubt that the land here involved is in the State of Georgia. Article I of the Beaufort Convention specifically reserved to Georgia all the islands in the Savannah River, and the Supreme Court, by its decision and decree in State of Georgia v. South Carolina, 257 U. S. 516 . . . confirmed that reservation."
side of the river? If the answer is in the affirmative, how can the 1922 decision of this Court be reconciled?"
"2. Is the Special Master correct in determining that the right-angle principle should be invoked by the demarcator in drawing the boundary line around islands on the South Carolina side of the 'thread' of the Savannah River, because of the 'special circumstances' existing by reason of the preclusive effect of the 1922 Supreme Court decision as it interpreted the Treaty of 1787?"
"3. Has the Special Master correctly ruled that Rabbit Island accreted to the State of South Carolina, and whether the 'Island Rule' is applicable?"
"4. Has the Special Master correctly decided that Hog Island and Long Island have been acquired by the State of South Carolina under the doctrine of prescription and acquiescence? The Special Master notes that, even though Hog Island (in existence in 1787) was acquired by South Carolina under the doctrine of prescription and acquiescence, there remained at that time a creek separating Hog Island from the mainland and it was not until the spoilage had been dumped by avulsive processes that Hog Island became a part of the South Carolina mainland."
"5. Has the Special Master correctly ruled that the area known as Southeastern Denwill, if it presently encroaches on the southern side of the mid-point of the Savannah River as it existed in 1787, now belongs to Georgia?"
"6. Has the Special Master correctly ruled that Jones Island, at all pertinent times, was in the State of South Carolina?"
after leaving the southern tip of Turtle Island?"
"reflects his fundamental dissatisfaction with the boundary line as established by the framers of the Treaty of Beaufort and as construed by this Court in 1922."
"to diverge, at virtually every opportunity, from the boundary which has been established since 1787 in order to place his recommended boundary in or near the mainstream or the navigation channel of the river."
Id. at 8. South Carolina, of course, disavows this characterization of the Special Master's decision.
Georgia states that the Barnwell Islands remained as islands in the Savannah River and discernible as such well into the 20th century, when, because of the activity of the United States Corps of Engineers, they became affixed to the South Carolina shore. Ga. Exceptions 13. South Carolina opines that the Barnwell Islands area is the most valuable land in the present dispute. It consists of at least 450 acres of high ground only a short distance downstream from the city of Savannah. It is "clearly capable of future economic development." Response for South Carolina 1-2.
Georgia's argument is essentially this: long acquiescence in the practical location of an interstate boundary, and possession in accordance therewith, often has been used as an aid in resolving boundary disputes. See, e.g., 45 U. S. Massachusetts, 4 How. 591, 45 U. S. 638-639 (1846); Louisiana v. Mississippi, 202 U. S. 1, 53 (1906). Possession and dominion are essential elements of a claim of sovereignty by prescription and acquiescence. Virginia v. Tennessee, 148 U. S. 503, 148 U. S. 524 (1893). The duration of any purported dominion by South Carolina was judicially terminated by the above-cited Fifth Circuit decision in 1955. In line with that decision, and at all times since, Georgia has exercised dominion, sovereignty, and ownership of the Barnwell Islands. The Corps of Engineers has possessed and occupied Barnwell pursuant to a deed granted by Georgia for a spoilage easement. The doctrine of prescription and acquiescence may not be used aggressively to acquire territory; it may be used only to confirm the current status. In any event, proof adduced by South Carolina falls short of what is required to change the boundary solemnly accepted by the two States in 1787.
of hogs fed with the mash. The fact that moonshining could be carried on successfully shows how little attention was paid to the islands by Georgia authorities and the public generally.
Except for the placement of a battery on the islands by Confederate forces during the War Between the States, there never was any resident on the islands, and no schools, roads, or other public improvements.
is contradicted "by considerable evidence" that Georgia and United States officials understood the islands to be in Georgia. Ga. Exceptions 34. There was a Georgia grant in 1760. In 1825, 1830, and 1831, taxes were paid to Chatham County, Ga. Many maps show the Barnwell Islands (other than Rabbit) to be on the Georgia side of the boundary line between the two States.
patrolling by South Carolina wildlife officers, and other factors, all support the Special Master's conclusion that, in any event, South Carolina established sovereignty by prescription and acquiescence.
Georgia seeks to avoid the effect of this evidence on the ground that it had no reasonable notice of South Carolina's actions, and therefore cannot be said to have acquiesced in them. But inaction alone may constitute acquiescence when it continues for a sufficiently long period. See Rhode Island v. Massachusetts, 15 Pet. 233, 40 U. S. 274 (1841); Vermont v. New Hampshire, 289 U. S. 593, 289 U. S. 616 (1933). And there is more than mere inaction on the part of Georgia. The record contains substantial evidence of events that put Georgia on notice of South Carolina's exercise of sovereignty. Parts of the islands were cultivated, as the Master found, for more than 30 years prior to 1880. This was readily discernible, for rice cultivation requires dikes, and the presence of dikes on the islands appeared on maps of the area as early as 1855. Ga.Exh. 156. Georgia was chargeable with knowledge that the Treaty of Beaufort placed all the Savannah River islands in Georgia. Yet Georgia authorities could have discovered there was no record of taxation or other sovereign action over these lands by Georgia except, possibly, for three isolated instances in the early part of the 19th century. Some documents recorded in Georgia, because they also involved Georgia property, describe the islands as in South Carolina. There is evidence, too, that Savannah residents were aware of cultivation on the islands.
"It is conclusively settled in England that open and notorious adverse possession is evidence of notice not of the adverse holding only, but of title under which the possession is held. . . . And in the United States, we deem it to be equally settled."
Landes v. Brant, 10 How. 348, 51 U. S. 375 (1850).
South Carolina must prevail as to the Barnwell Islands issue, and we overrule Georgia's exception with respect thereto.
This Court considered this provision in 1922 in Georgia v. South Carolina, supra. Both States agreed that the presence of an island on the South Carolina side of the river altered the boundary so as to bring the island within the jurisdiction of Georgia. In its decision on the merits, the Court resolved two contested issues relevant here.
"where, in any of the boundary rivers here involved, there are no islands, the location of the boundary line between the two States is the thread of the river -- the middle line of the stream -- regardless of the channel of navigation. . . ."
river up to the 'northern boundary of South Carolina,' makes it clear that, where there are islands in the river, the line must be between them and the South Carolina shore, for otherwise the Georgia islands would be within the State of South Carolina."
Id. at 257 U. S. 520-521. Because the "northern branch or stream" clause by definition would bring the boundary north of the low water mark on the Georgia side, the Court thought it unlikely that the parties intended the low-water mark to be the benchmark where no islands were present. The more logical reading of the Treaty was that each State would take "to the middle of the stream." Id. at 257 U. S. 521.
each island in the river created a new "northern branch or stream," each island was not only reserved to Georgia under the reservation clause of Article I but also formed a point of reference by which the boundary would be drawn.
Treaty purports to fix the boundary "forever hereafter," a goal that would be frustrated were the boundary to jump northward each time a new island appeared on the South Carolina side of the river. A construction of the Treaty that avoids sudden changes in the boundary would be more consistent with this language, and also comports with the principles of simplicity and finality that animated the Court's reading of the Treaty in 1922, and with the respect for settled expectations that generally attends the drawing of interstate boundaries. Cf. Virginia v. Tennessee, 148 U. S. 503, 148 U. S. 522-525 (1893).
We recognize, of course, that the normal rules relating to accretion and erosion may cause the boundary line between the States to shift over time, so that the line will not necessarily be fixed as of any particular point. But it is one thing to say that the parties meant that gradual shifts in the path of the river would shift the boundary gradually, to the extent of the accretion; this rule is consistent with settled expectations and with the parties' interest in maintaining their riparian rights. See Nebraska v. Iowa, 143 U. S. 359 (1892). It is quite another thing to infer that the parties meant that each new island, however formed, would alter the boundary line to a degree that could be dramatically out of proportion to the physical change brought about by the formation of the island itself.
Finally, Georgia points to the statement in the 1922 decree that all islands "formed by nature" in the Chattooga River, like the islands in the Savannah and the Tugaloo, were reserved by the Treaty to Georgia. Georgia v. South Carolina, 259 U.S. at 259 U. S. 572. This reference, Georgia contends, necessarily implies that the reservation clause in the Treaty includes after-emerging islands, since man-made islands did not exist in the river in 1787. There is no indication, however, that the Court knew of this fact in 1922. No issue of after-emerging islands was even before the Court, and the decree simply described the river as it then was.
Oyster Bed Island, which was not in existence in 1787 and which emerged in the 1870s or 1880s, is one of the most easterly or downstream islands in the Savannah River. It lies north of Cockspur Island and southeast of Turtle Island. Both Turtle Island and its westerly neighbor, Jones Island, are now conceded by the parties to be in South Carolina. Georgia accepts the Special Master's location of the boundary between the two States immediately upstream and west of Oyster Bed as midway between Jones Island and certain Georgia islands in the river. Ga. Exceptions 38-39.
Georgia complains, however, that west of Oyster Bed, opposite the southern point of Turtle Island, the Special Master's recommended boundary departs from the middle of the stream and, going east, makes an "abrupt jog [to the southeast] to reach the navigational channel of the river." Id. at 38. The result is that Oyster Bed Island is placed in South Carolina, a consequence, Georgia says, that is contrary to this Court's 1922 ruling in Georgia v. South Carolina, supra.
the Savannah River, and encounters no inconsistency with what this Court said in Georgia v. South Carolina. The Savannah River's "mouth" was not defined in the Treaty of Beaufort. Georgia argues that the mouth, as referred to in the Treaty, must be located in the vicinity of Tybee Island, rather than somewhat upstream. Tybee lies south and east of Cockspur. We accept that submission, and regard Tybee as forming the south side of the river's mouth. Usually, there are two opposing "headlands" marking and constituting the mouth of a river. See Knight v. United States Land Assn., 142 U. S. 161, 142 U. S. 207 (1891) (concurring opinion). This is the "headland-to-headland" principle used in defining the limits of bays and rivers. 2 A. Shalowitz, Shore and Sea Boundaries § 141, p. 367 (1964). It is not always that simple, however. Sometimes the mouth of a river is difficult to delineate. See S. Jones, Boundary-Making: A Handbook 130 (1945). Because of the absence of a reasonably close headland to the north, Georgia is driven to argue that the boundary at the mouth of the Savannah River must be the geographical middle between Tybee and the closest points of land in South Carolina, that is, Daufuskie Island, lying north and northeastward of Turtle Island, and Hilton Head Island, almost six miles north of Tybee.
Daufuskie Island are so far distant that it is impossible to say that they even touch the Savannah River.
This Court in its 1922 decision in Georgia v. South Carolina ruled that (1) at any point where there is no island in the Savannah River, the boundary "is on the water midway between the main banks of the river when the water is at ordinary stage," and (2) where there is an island the boundary "is midway between the island bank and the South Carolina shore when the water is at ordinary stage." 257 U.S. at 257 U. S. 523. This seemingly simple and routine resolution, however, results in a problem, not decided in the 1922 case, when the midline of the stream encounters an island and must move northward to qualify as the line midway between the island bank and the South Carolina shore. Where and how does this boundary movement to the north take place? Is it when the midline touches the island, if it does touch it at all, and does it then move at right angles until it reaches a point midway between the island bank and the South Carolina shore? Does it then proceed accordingly until the island is bypassed and the midline of the stream is to be met and followed, and is a right angle to be applied there as well?
for every point of the midline is equidistant from the nearest points on the opposite shores. See New Hampshire v. Maine, 426 U. S. 363, 426 U. S. 371 (1976) (dissenting opinion). But, as noted, the ease of ascertainment disappears when an island and the Treaty of Beaufort are encountered. Such is the case here, particularly with respect to the Special Master's treatment of the line around Pennyworth Island north of the city of Savannah.
This issue clearly was not determined, and perhaps was not even contemplated, by the framers of the Treaty. What the Special Master did in the absence of authority -- and we have found none -- was to use the line midway between an island and the South Carolina shore (as the parties agree is proper) until the island ended and ceased to lie opposite the shore. There the boundary was to revert to the middle of the river. The Master then used a right-angle line connecting the island-to-bank center line with the bank-to-bank center line by the shortest distance. South Carolina urges that this is the most reasonable approach to this unique problem, and that the Master's recommended device should be adopted.
We think that Georgia has the better of this argument. Its submission, it seems to us, is sensible, is less artificial than other lines, is fair to both States, and is generally in line with what was said in Georgia v. South Carolina.
structures were built and 1924, when the old bed appeared above water. Id. at 7. The training wall, two miles long, was permeable, and permitted sedimentation behind it before the dredging and filling occurred. South Carolina observes that the Special Master nowhere specifically states that the process in fact was avulsive, but it asserts, pointing to several references by the Master to avulsive procedures, that "it is clear that he considered the process to be avulsive." Id. at 9. South Carolina also notes that all those activities worked to the benefit of the city of Savannah, and that "Georgia's port was the only beneficiary of the dredging." Brief in Rebuttal for South Carolina 5.
South Carolina's exception as to Horseshoe Shoal is like its Denwill exception. It asserts that, as was the case with Denwill, training works and dredging by the Corps led to sedimentation and filling. As a result, the Shoal is now a long isthmus of high ground connecting Jones Island and Oyster Bed Island. It was formed "in the same way, and over a comparable period, as the additional land on Denwill." S.C. Exceptions 13-14. The major training work in this area, too, was between 1890 and 1894. Wing-dams were placed and then hydraulic fill. But "even before large-scale dredging and filling began, the area was close to becoming a dry elevation solely as a result of the 30 years of sedimentation caused by training works." Id. at 14-15.
General rules concerning the formation of riparian land are well developed, and are simply expressed and well accepted.
When the bed is changed by the natural and gradual processes known as erosion and accretion, the boundary follows the varying course of the stream. But if the stream leaves its old bed and forms a new one by the process known as avulsion, the result works no change of boundary. Arkansas v. Tennessee, 246 U. S. 158, 246 U. S. 173 (1918). Sometimes, the problem is to distinguish between the two.
South Carolina's exceptions as to southeastern Denwill and Horseshoe Shoal.
Each side has noted an exception to the Special Master's recommendation concerning the lateral seaward boundary between the States. What the Master has done here begins with his resolution of the issue concerning the river's mouth, a recommendation we have approved in Part V hereof. He accepted, as do we, that Tybee Island is to be regarded as the "headland" for the south side of the mouth of the Savannah River, and that the long-existing shoal forms the north side of the mouth.
General of the United States, whereby they agree that no interest of the United States is affected by this Court's ultimate determination as to the location of the lateral seaward boundary between the States. The Master accordingly concluded that the Federal Government was not a necessary party. Id. at 3. He then proceeded to apply principles of international law, citing Wisconsin v. Michigan, 295 U. S. 455 (1935), and Texas v. Louisiana, 426 U. S. 465 (1976).
The Master reviewed the States' respective contentions. He noted that Georgia cited the 1958 Geneva Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, 15 U.S.T. 1607, and particularly the first paragraph of Article 12 thereof, id. at 1610, which recites that neither of two adjacent states is entitled "to extend its territorial sea beyond the median line every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on the baselines." The Baseline Committee, operating in the 1970s, drew its line between Hilton Head Island and Tybee Island. The Master noted that he had determined the mouth of the river to be only approximately a mile north of the southern end of the baseline at Tybee Island. Nevertheless, in drawing the lateral seaward boundary, the Master felt controlled by international law.
"[T]herefore, it does not follow that the starting point of the lateral seaward boundary must merely be an extension of the land boundary between the states, although such a factor must be considered as highly persuasive."
2 Rep. 5. Georgia's claimed starting point for the lateral seaward boundary was at a point halfway between Hilton Head Island and Tybee Island, and thus about two miles north of where the land boundary met the baseline.
then turned to the "equidistant principle" referred to in Texas v. Louisiana, supra. He observed, however, that, while the equidistant principle "may be a slightly preferred method of delimitation, it does not reach the stature of a rule of law." 2 Rep. 16. Instead, "it is the principles of equity which should guide the conclusion in each particular case." Ibid.
The Special Master recommended that the lateral seaward boundary between the two States be along a line drawn at right-angles to the baseline beginning at a point marked "X" on App. A to 2 Rep. until that line reached the outer limit of the territorial sea as that outer limit existed on December 27, 1988. [Footnote 6] He felt that this was a proper utilization of equitable principles. 2 Rep. 18. He further recommended that Georgia and South Carolina "be required to suitably mark the lateral seaward boundary in the water area at the joint expense of the two states." Ibid.
We adopt the recommendation of the Special Master as to the lateral seaward boundary between South Carolina and Georgia. We conclude that it gives equitable balance and recognition to the so-called equidistant principle and to the inland boundary between the two States, and does so with the least possible offense to any claimed parallel between offshore territory and the coast itself. The States' respective exceptions as to the lateral seaward boundary are overruled.
of the decree. If they are unable to agree, each State shall submit to the Court its own formulation with any supportive comment deemed necessary. The Court will then draft the decree and enter it.
* All Members of the Court join in Parts I, II, III, and VIII of the opinion. Part IV is joined by all except THE CHIEF JUSTICE and Justice KENNEDY. Part V is joined by all, except that THE CHIEF JUSTICE and Justice KENNEDY do not join a portion of that Part. Part VI is joined by all except Justice WHITE and Justice MARSHALL. Part VII is joined by all except Justice SCALIA and Justice KENNEDY. Part IX is joined by all except Justice STEVENS and Justice SCALIA.
"The most northern branch or stream of the river Savannah from the sea or mouth of such stream to the fork or confluence of the rivers now called Tugoloo and Keowee, and from thence the most northern branch or stream of the said river Tugoloo till it intersects the northern boundary line of South Carolina if the said branch or stream of Tugoloo extends so far north, reserving all the islands in the said rivers Savannah and Tugoloo to Georgia; but if the head spring or source of any branch or stream of the said river Tugoloo does not extend to the north boundary line of South Carolina, then a west line to the Mississippi, to be drawn from the head spring or source of the said branch or stream of Tugoloo river which extends to the highest northern latitude -- shall forever hereafter form the separation limit and boundary between the States of South Carolina and Georgia."
"The navigation of the river Savannah at and from the bar, and mouth, along the north east side of Cockspur Island and up the direct course of the main northern channel, along the northern side of Hutchinson's Island, opposite the town of Savannah to the upper end of the said island, and from thence up the bed, or principal stream of the said river, to the confluence of the rivers Tugoloo and Keowee, and from the confluence up the channel of the most northern stream of Tugoloo river to its source and back again by the same channel to the Atlantic ocean: Is hereby declared to be henceforth equally free to the citizens of both States, and exempt from all duties, tolls, hindrance, interruption or molestation whatsoever, attempted to be enforced by one State on the citizens of the other, and all the rest of the river Savannah to the southward of the foregoing description is acknowledged to be the exclusive right of the State of Georgia."
"The limits, boundaries, jurisdictions, and authority of the State of Georgia do, and did, and of right ought to, extend from the sea or mouth of the river Savannah, along the northern branch or stream thereof, to the fork or confluence of the rivers now called Tugalo and Keowee, . . . reserving all the islands in said rivers Savannah and Tugalo to Georgia. . . ."
Art. I, § 23. See Document No. 357, The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws, 59th Cong., 2d Sess., vol. 2, p. 794 ( 1909).
"The boundaries of Georgia, as deduced from the Constitution of Georgia, the Convention of Beaufort, the Articles of Cession and Agreement with the United States of America entered into on April 24, 1802, the Resolution of the General Assembly dated December 8, 1826, and the adjudications and compromises affecting Alabama and Florida, are as follows:"
"From the sea, or the mouth of the River Savannah, along the stream thereof to the fork or confluence made by the Rivers Keowee and Tugalo, and thence along said River Tugalo until the fork or confluence made by said Tugalo and the River Chattooga, and up and along the same to the point where it touches the northern boundary line of South Carolina, and the southern boundary line of North Carolina, which is at a point on the thirty-fifth parallel of north latitude, reserving all the islands in said Rivers Savannah, Tugalo, and Chattooga, to Georgia. . . ."
Ga.Code Ann. § 50-2-1 (1986).
"The boundary between Georgia and South Carolina shall be the line described as running from the mouth of the River Savannah, up said river and the Rivers Tugalo and Chattooga, to the point where the last-named river intersects with the thirty-fifth parallel of north latitude, conforming as much as possible to the line agreed on by the commissioners of said states at Beaufort on April 28, 1787."
"From the State of Georgia, this State is divided by the Savannah River, from its entrance into the ocean to the confluence of the Toogaloo and Seneca Rivers; thence up the Toogaloo River to the confluence of the Tallulah and the Chattooga Rivers; thence up the Chattooga River to the 35th parallel of north latitude, which is the boundary of North Carolina, the line being midway between the banks of said respective rivers when the water is at ordinary stage. And when the rivers are broken by islands of natural formation which, under the treaty of Beaufort, are reserved to the state of Georgia, the line is midway between the island banks and the South Carolina banks when the water is at ordinary stage."
"1st. Where there are no islands in the boundary rivers, the location of the line between the two States is on the water midway between the main banks of the river when water is at ordinary stage;"
"2nd. Where there are islands, the line is midway between the island bank and the South Carolina shore when the water is at ordinary stage;"
It also seems to us, for what it may be worth, that there is no qualitative difference in the type of proof offered by South Carolina for Rabbit Island and the rest of the Barnwell cluster. The islands were granted together, often conveyed together, and taxed in the same manner. Rabbit and Hog were both diked and cultivated for rice. Yet Georgia has not pursued its claim to Rabbit Island.
Some of the Barnwell Islands also may have emerged after the Treaty, but our conclusion that they belong to South Carolina by prescription, see Part III, supra, makes the time of their emergence immaterial.
This date is utilized because, on December 27, 1988, the President issued a Proclamation that the territorial sea of the United States thenceforth extended to 12 nautical miles. See Proclamation 5928, 54 Fed.Reg. 777 (filed Jan. 6, 1989). The Special Master specifically concluded his determination of the lateral seaward boundary at the outer limit of the theretofore existing 3-mile territorial sea. He felt that there were legal problems confronting the coastal States with respect to the extended portion of the territorial sea and, further, that consideration of an extended boundary line would exceed this Court's reference to him. 2 Rep. 27-28.
One might suggest, perhaps, that the Special Master in his Second Report assumed that the United States had utilized "straight baselines" in constructing the coast near the mouth of the Savannah River. See 2 Rep. 12-14. Such baseline use would have been authorized by Article 4 of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, 15 U.S.T. 1606, 1608 (1958). Article 4, however, provides this only as an option. We are not aware of any instance where that provision has been employed in the determination of the United States coastline. See e.g., United States v. California, 381 U. S. 139, 381 U. S. 167-169 (1965); United States v. Louisiana (Louisiana Boundary Case), 394 U. S. 11, 394 U. S. 68-73 (1969); United States v. Louisiana (Alabama and Mississippi Boundary Case), 470 U. S. 93, 470 U. S. 99 (1985). If the Special Master in fact made the assumption, we refrain from adopting that portion of his discussion. The assumption is not necessary for a decision in the present litigation, and we leave the question of its propriety for another day.
stage; (2) Where there are islands, the line is midway between the island bank and the South Carolina shore when the water is at ordinary stage. . . ."
Georgia v. South Carolina, 257 U. S. 516, 257 U. S. 523 (1922). Thus, the boundary line at any point is determined by reference to just two banks, either the two main banks or the island and South Carolina banks. This cannot be carried out by any method other than the Master's right angle approach.
Georgia's approach, which the Court adopts, would deviate from the main bank-to-bank center line far short of where any part of the island is opposite the South Carolina shore. This point, it is said, is a point "triequidistant" from the South Carolina shore, the island shore and the Georgia shore -- thus referring to three banks rather than two. It is true that, from that point onward, the boundary line as it circumscribes the island would at any point be equidistant from the island and South Carolina banks, but the point at which the shore-to-shore center line ceases to be the boundary at either end of the island requires reference to the two mainlands and the island. Using Georgia's approach, the boundary is no longer exclusively determined by either the two mainlands or the island and the South Carolina banks.
Georgia complains that the Master had no authority for his position, but he did his best to follow the 1922 decision, noting that, in that case, Georgia pressed the position that it now urges -- that when the island-South Carolina bank center line passes the ends of the island it "deflects" and continues until at some point it meets the center line between the two main banks. The Court, as the Master noted, did not endorse this position, for it made no mention of "deflection." Rather, as I have said, it defined the boundary everywhere with reference either to the two main banks or the island-South Carolina banks.
and, as I see it, misreads Georgia v. South Carolina, supra. With all due respect, I dissent.
difference between this boundary and that recommended by the Special Master becomes particularly clear if one assumes that the boundary line would not change angles when it crosses the outer limits of the 3-mile and 12-mile territorial seas.
South Carolina. Georgia contends that all islands formed by natural processes lie within its territory unless South Carolina has acquired them through prescription. I would sustain Georgia's fourth exception, and I therefore dissent from Part IV of the Court's opinion and that portion of Part V concerning Oyster Bed Island.
"The most northern branch or stream of the river Savannah from the sea or mouth of such stream to the fork or confluence of the rivers now called Tugoloo and Keowee, and from thence the most northern branch or stream of the said river Tugoloo till it intersects the northern boundary line of South Carolina . . . reserving all the islands in the said rivers Savannah and Tugoloo to Georgia . . . shall forever hereafter form the separation limit and boundary between the States of South Carolina and Georgia."
Ante at 497 U. S. 381, n. 1. (Emphasis added.) Georgia reasons that the clause reserving all islands to Georgia gives it sovereignty over all islands regardless of when or where they emerged. South Carolina maintains that the treaty placed the islands existing in 1787 in Georgia, and then vested the rights of the two States with respect to the river beds. It contends that, under ordinary principles of property law, it has jurisdiction over any island that arose from its portion of the river bed after that time. See St. Louis v. Rutz, 138 U. S. 226, 247 (1891). I agree with Georgia.
South Carolina's view would render superfluous the clause "reserving all islands" to Georgia. The clause cannot give Georgia only the islands existing in 1787 because the treaty would give these islands to Georgia even in the absence of the clause. South Carolina lies to the north of Georgia. As a result, wherever the Savannah River contains islands, its northernmost streams flow between the islands and the South Carolina shore. All islands existing in 1787, therefore, lay on Georgia's side of the dividing line, and would belong to Georgia even if the treaty said nothing about islands.
regardless of when or where they arose, Georgia's view gives effect to the language of the treaty.
Georgia's rule also seems in keeping with what I think that the parties to such a treaty must have intended. When two States define their boundary according to a river, they may expect natural processes such as erosion and accretion to alter their borders. Louisiana v. Mississippi, 466 U. S. 96, 100 (1984); Arkansas v. Tennessee, 246 U. S. 158, 173 (1918). South Carolina takes the position that, although the boundary between the States moves when accretion and erosion change the river banks, the boundary does not change when these processes produce or alter an island within the river. Because the treaty defines the dividing line according to the most northern stream of the river, I do not think that those who signed it contemplated this uneven result.
Georgia's position, in addition, comports better with our 1922 interpretation of the Treaty of Beaufort. In ruling on the status of islands in the Chattooga River (i.e., the most northerly branch of the Tugaloo River), our decree states that all of the islands belong to Georgia. See Georgia v. South Carolina, 259 U. S. 572 (1922). We saw no need, at that time, to distinguish islands that arose after 1787 from any other islands. See ibid. (distinguishing only those islands "formed by nature" from other islands). Even though we did not need to pass on the specific issue in this case in 1922, we should give some weight to the language of our previous order to avoid upsetting settled expectations.
"Either state stands to lose riverbed as a result of natural changes in the river; likewise, each state has the potential of acquiring additional riverbed as a result of accretion and erosion. For example, if an island existed in 1787 but was subsequently eliminated by gradual erosion, the boundary would be moved to the advantage of South Carolina, and the riverbed previously owned by Georgia would then be owned by South Carolina."
Ga. Exceptions 56 (footnote omitted). For these reasons, I would sustain Georgia's fourth exception.
Third, my interpretation of the treaty also implies that the Barnwell Islands which emerged after 1787 at one time belonged to Georgia. I agree with the Court, however, that Georgia lost these islands to South Carolina by prescription. I thus dissent in part.

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