Mississippi v. Louisiana, 506 U.S. 73, 3 (1992)

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Cite as: 506 U. S. 73 (1992)

Opinion of the Court

We denied leave to file, Louisiana v. Mississippi, 488 U. S. 990 (1988).

The District Court thereafter found that the thalweg, frozen by an avulsive shift in the river, was to the west of the disputed land and thus placed it within Mississippi. Alternatively, the District Court concluded that the disputed land was part of Mississippi because "Louisiana has acquiesced in the exercise of the exclusive jurisdiction over the island by . . . Mississippi." App. to Pet. for Cert. 40a. Having found the land to be part of Mississippi, the District Court then considered the ownership question and quieted title in the Houston Group.

The Court of Appeals reversed, rejecting the District Court's rulings both on the location of the thalweg and on acquiescence, Houston v. Thomas, 937 F. 2d 247 (CA5 1991). We granted certiorari on these two questions and on a third that we formulated: "Did the District Court properly assert jurisdiction over respondents' third-party complaint against petitioner State of Mississippi?" 503 U. S. 935 (1992). We now reverse.

The constitutional and statutory provisions necessary to our decision are these:

Article III, § 2, of the Constitution:

"The judicial Power [of the United States] shall extend . . . to Controversies between two or more States; . . . .

"In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction."

Title 28 U. S. C. § 1331: "The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States."

Title 28 U. S. C. § 1251(a): "The Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction of all controversies between two or more States."

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