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| S P E C I A L : | Supreme Court: 1997-1998 Session |
New Jersey wins claim to Ellis Island
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Web posted at: 3:43 p.m. EDT (1943 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a defeat for New York, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that New Jersey may claim that Ellis Island, the nation's historic gateway for 16 million immigrants, falls within its borders.
The high court, by a 6-3 vote, declared that Ellis Island, the site of the landmark U.S. immigration processing center from the 1890s until 1954, belongs largely to New Jersey in a case that mainly involved symbolic bragging rights.
New Yorkers react to the decision
1 min. VXtreme video
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Comments from New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman
1 min. 45 sec. VXtreme video
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Ellis Island
2 min. 06 sec. VXtreme video
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As a result, most of the island in New York Harbor from now on must be considered Ellis Island, New Jersey
"The lands surrounding the original island remained the sovereign property of New Jersey when the United States added landfill to them," Justice David H. Souter wrote for the court.
At stake was more pride than money. The federal government actually owns Ellis Island, which was the first American soil walked upon by 17 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954.
The immigration center has been restored as a museum visited each year by thousands of tourists who travel to the island by ferry.
New York City officials had taken steps to have the whole island declared a city landmark. States also have regulatory authority over land within their borders, including zoning and environmental protection.
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| Aerial view of Ellis Island | |
Tuesday's ruling largely upholds a court-appointed fact-finder's recommendation to divide the island between the two states, with New York getting about five acres including the main building and New Jersey getting the rest.
New Jersey sued New York in 1993, basing its claim on an 1834 border agreement between the two states that was signed when the island was only about three acres. The rest of the island was created later by landfill.
The 1834 agreement gave New York the above-water land, while New Jersey got the submerged areas. New Jersey contended those surrounding areas remained part of the Garden State when they were filled in and became above-water land.
New York argued that when that area was filled in, it became New York land and has long been recognized as part of the Empire State.
People born on Ellis Island were listed as having been born in New York, and the census listed Ellis Island residents as New Yorkers, the state's lawyers told the justices during oral arguments in January.
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Court-appointed fact-finder Paul Verkuil recommended setting New York's border at the low-water mark of the 1834 island and then adjusting the border to avoid splitting buildings between the two states.
Verkuil recommended allowing New York to claim all the main immigration building and the area between it and the ferry slip. Other buildings would be considered part of New Jersey.
The Clinton administration agreed with Verkuil that most of the island must be designated part of New Jersey. But government lawyers said the Supreme Court lacked authority to adjust the border, adding that any adjustment should be left up to the states.
The Supreme Court agreed that New Jersey could claim the land to the low-water mark. But the justices also agreed with the Clinton administration that it could not adjust the original boundary to avoid splitting buildings.
"These drawbacks are the price of New Jersey's success in litigating under a compact whose fair construction calls for a line so definite," Souter wrote.
His opinion was joined by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Anthony M. Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer.
Dissenting were Justices John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
The case is New Jersey vs. New York, 120 Original.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Special master rules in favor of Ellis Island, 'New Jersey' - April 1, 1997
- Washington Notebook: Whose America? - March 21, 1996
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
- Ellis Island - immigration museum
- Ellis Island - photos by Phillip Buehler
- Ellis Island - from the National Park Service
- New Jersey online
- Welcome to New York
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.