Opinion ID: 8938355
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Boundaries Beyond Three Miles.

Text: Whatever may have been the uncertainty attending the relevance of state boundaries with respect to rights in submerged lands within three miles of the coast, we find a clear understanding by Congress that the question of rights beyond three miles turned on the existence of an expressly defined state boundary beyond three miles. Congress was aware that several States claimed such a boundary. Texas throughout repeatedly asserted its claim that when an independent republic its statutes established a three-league maritime boundary, and that the United States ratified that boundary when Texas was admitted to the Union and permitted Texas to retain its own public lands. 32 Florida repeatedly asserted its claim that subsequent to its secession at the time of the Civil War, it framed a constitution which established a three-league boundary along its Gulf coast, and that such boundary was ratified when Congress in 1868 approved  the State's constitution and readmitted it to the Union. 33 Louisiana asserted that the Act of Congress admitting it to the Union in 1812 fixed for it a three-league maritime boundary by virtue of the provision which includes within the State “all islands within three leagues of the coast.” 34 And it was suggested that Mississippi and Alabama might claim boundaries six leagues in the Gulf because of similar provisions in the Acts admitting them to the Union. 35 It was recognized that if the legal existence of such boundaries could be established, they would clearly entitle the respective States to submerged land rights to that distance under an application of the Pollard rule to the marginal sea. Hence, while a three-mile boundary was expressly confirmed for all coastal States, the right of the Gulf States to prove boundaries in excess of three miles was preserved. This treatment of the matter was carried into all the numerous “quitclaim” bills by language similar to that found in § 4 of the present Act, confirming all coastal state boundaries at three miles and negating any prejudice to boundary claims in excess of that. 36 Repeated expressions of the Act’s sponsors make it absolutely clear that no boundary in excess of three miles was fixed for any State, but that a State would have to establish the existence of such a boundary in judicial proceedings. 37  The many individual expressions of views as to the location of particular state boundaries — notably statements that the effect of the Act would be to give Texas and Florida three leagues of submerged land rights 38 — while undoubtedly representing the sincere” beliefs of the speakers, cannot serve to relieve this Court from making an independent judicial inquiry and adjudication on the subject, as contemplated by Congress. The earlier “quitclaim” bills defined the grant in terms of presently existing boundaries, 39 since such boundaries would have circumscribed the lands owned by the States under an application of Pollard to the marginal sea. However, the sponsors of these measures soon recognized that present boundaries could be ascertained only by reference to historic events. The claims advanced by the Gulf States during consideration of earlier bills were identical to those subsequently asserted. 40 The theory of those claims, as we have noted, depended either, as in the cases of Texas and Florida, upon a constitutional or statutory provision allegedly ratified by Congressional acquiescence, or, as in the cases of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, upon express Congressional action. Indeed, it could hardly have been contended that Congressional action surrounding the event of admission was not relevant to the  determination of present boundaries. Some suggestions were made, however, that States might by their own action have effectively extended, or be able to extend, their boundaries subsequent to admission. 41 To exclude the possibility that States might be able to establish present boundaries based on extravagant unilateral extensions, such as those recently made by Texas and Louisiana, 42 subsequent drafts of the bill introduced the twofold test of the present Act — boundaries which existed at the time of admission and boundaries heretofore approved by Congress. 43 It is apparent that the purpose of the change was not to alter the basic theory of the grant, but to assure that the determination of boundaries would be made in  accordance with that theory- — -that the States should be “restored” to the ownership of submerged lands within their present boundaries, determined, however, by the historic action taken with respect to them jointly by Congress and the State. 44 It was such action that the framers of this legislation conceived to fix the States’ boundaries  against subsequent change without their consent and therefore to confer upon them the long-standing equities which the measure was intended to recognize. 45 Somewhat later, the last sentence of the present Act’s § 4 was added, for the specific purpose of assuring that the boundary claims of Texas and Florida would be preserved. 46 The first part of the sentence (see note 8, ante), intended to refer to Texas alone, protects the State’s claim to a three-league boundary as “provided by its constitution or laws prior to or at the time such State became a member of the Union.” That claim, however, was asserted to rest not only on its statute but also on the  action of Congress in admitting it to the Union. 47 If any doubt could remain that the event of admission is a vital circumstance in ascertaining the location of boundaries which existed “at the time” of admission within the meaning of the Submerged Lands Act, it is conclusively dispelled by repeated statements of its proponents to that effect. 48 We conclude, therefore,' that the States’ contention that preadmission boundaries, standing alone, suffice to meet the requirements of the statute is not tenable.