Geer v. Connecticut

Geer v. Connecticut
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued November 22, 1895
Decided March 2, 1896
Full case nameEdward M. Geer v. State of Connecticut
Citations161 U.S. 519 (more)
16 S. Ct. 600; 40 L. Ed. 793
Holding
The states owned the wild animals within their borders and could strictly regulate their management and harvest.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Melville Fuller
Associate Justices
Stephen J. Field · John M. Harlan
Horace Gray · David J. Brewer
Henry B. Brown · George Shiras Jr.
Edward D. White · Rufus W. Peckham
Case opinions
MajorityWhite, joined by Fuller, Gray, Brown, Shiras
DissentField
DissentHarlan
Brewer, Peckham took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Overruled by
Hughes v. Oklahoma, 441 U.S. 322 (1979)

Geer v. Connecticut, 161 U.S. 519 (1896), was a United States Supreme Court decision, which dealt with the transportation of wild fowl over state lines. Geer held that the states owned the wild animals within their borders and could strictly regulate their management and harvest. According to the Geer Court, "the right to preserve game flows from the undoubted existence in the State of a police power." Although this statement is often quoted by state advocates, it is followed by the qualification that this power reaches only "in so far as its exercise may not be incompatible with, or restrained by, the rights conveyed to the Federal government by the Constitution." The Geer decision supported the view that the states owned all resident wildlife, but at the time there were no conflicting federal wildlife laws.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ Coggins, G. C. (1980). "Wildlife and the Constitution: the walls come tumbling down". Washington Law Review. 55: 295–358.

Further reading


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