82
Kennedy, J., dissenting
eign that owns the river. That sovereign is, indisputably, the State of Maryland.
We need go no further. This case does not require us to determine the precise extent or character of Maryland's regulatory jurisdiction. Rather, the narrow issue before us is whether Maryland may impose any limits on withdrawals by Virginia landowners whose property happens to abut the Potomac. Because those landowners' riparian rights are— like all riparian rights at common law—subject to the paramount regulatory authority of the sovereign that owns the river, I would sustain Maryland's exceptions to the Report of the Special Master and enter judgment dismissing Virginia's complaint.
Justice Kennedy, with whom Justice Stevens joins, dissenting.
Failing to appreciate a basic rule of territorial adjudication, the Court concludes it must "reject Maryland's historical premise" that in 1785 the State had title to the Potomac River (River), its bed, and its waters. Ante, at 67. In my respectful view, and contrary to the majority's premise, the circumstance that two parties both claim rights to a parcel of land has no legal significance if one of the two parties has clear title already, absent some further argument that the claim against the holder of the title is reinforced by a history of prescription, estoppel, or adverse use. Contra, ante, at 68 (relying on the fact that "the scope of Maryland's sovereignty over the River was in dispute both before and after the 1785 Compact" to conclude that Maryland lacked sovereignty over the River in 1785). Just as this basic rule of property adjudication is true of disputes between two private persons, it is true of title disputes between States. "No court acts differently in deciding on boundary between states, than on lines between separate tracts of land." Rhode Island v. Massachusetts, 12 Pet. 657, 733 (1838). See also Rhode Island v. Massachusetts, 4 How. 591, 628
Page: Index Previous 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007