The Judicial Power-Admiralty Clause

Abstract

This Essay explains the text and original meaning of “all Cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction” in Article III of the U.S. Constitution, its background history, its implementation by the First Congress, key judicial precedents interpreting it, and the open question of what Erie doctrine means for the centuries-old historical practice of federal courts applying the maritime law of nations in “all Cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction.”

Article III does not define what constitute “all Cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction.” Understanding this Article III judicial power as a matter of text and original meaning thus requires examination of relevant English, colonial, and Articles of Confederation history; the Constitutional Convention and state ratification conventions; and subsequent judicial precedents. A backwater today, the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction was among the most vital of the nine categories of Article III judicial power in the early United States because of: (1) the need for uniform rules and adjudication of maritime cases for a new coastal nation dependent on maritime trade among themselves and with Europe and its colonies; (2) the negative experience of divergent state admiralty courts during the War of Independence, which created friction among the states and with foreign states and led to the establishment of the first national court of appeals; and (3) the criticality of port customs duties for early federal government revenues.

Keywords: federal courts, constitutional law, civil procedure, international law, maritime, Erie doctrine