''Downes v. Bidwell'', 182 U.S. 244 (1901), was a case in which the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

decided whether US territories were subject to the provisions and protections of the

US Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...

. The issue is sometimes stated as whether the Constitution follows the flag. The decision narrowly held that the Constitution does not necessarily apply to territories. Instead, the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

has jurisdiction to create law within territories in certain circumstances, particularly those dealing with revenue, which would not be allowed by the Constitution for US states. It has become known as one of the "

Insular Cases The Insular Cases are a series of opinions by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1901 about the status of U.S. territories acquired in the Spanish–American War. Some scholars also include cases regarding territorial status decided up unt ...

Background

The case specifically concerned a merchant, Samuel Downes, who owned S. B. Downes & Company. His company had imported oranges into the Port of New York from the newly-acquired territory of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

and had been forced to pay

import duties A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and polic ...

on them. He sued George R. Bidwell, the US

customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

inspector for the port of New York. The Supreme Court in '' DeLima v. Bidwell'' had decided that ever since Puerto Rico had been acquired by the United States from Spain in the

Treaty of Paris (1898) The Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain, commonly known as the Treaty of Paris of 1898 ( fil, Kasunduan sa Paris ng 1898; es, Tratado de París de 1898), was a treaty signed by Spain and the United St ...

, normal customs levied on imports from foreign countries did not apply to imports from Puerto Rico since it had ceased to be a foreign country. However, the

Foraker Act The Foraker Act, , officially known as the Organic Act of 1900, is a United States federal law that established civilian (albeit limited popular) government on the island of Puerto Rico, which had recently become a possession of the United State ...

now levied customs specifically on imports from Puerto Rico. Downes disputed its constitutionality on the grounds that such duties were under the jurisdiction of Article I, Section 8, of the

, which provides that "all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States." Since the duty on oranges did not exist for other parts of the United States, he argued that it should not exist for Puerto Rico.

Decision

The Supreme Court decided 5–4 that the newly-annexed territories were not properly part of the United States for purposes of the Constitution in the matter of revenues, administrative matters, and the like. However, the court was careful to note that the constitutional guarantees of a citizen's rights of liberty and property were applicable to all and "cannot be under any circumstances transcended", according to Justice

Edward Douglass White Edward Douglass White Jr. (November 3, 1844 – May 19, 1921) was an American politician and jurist from Louisiana. White was a U.S. Supreme Court justice for 27 years, first as an associate justice from 1894 to 1910, then as the ninth chief ...

concurring opinion In law, a concurring opinion is in certain legal systems a written opinion by one or more judges of a court which agrees with the decision made by the majority of the court, but states different (or additional) reasons as the basis for their deci ...

. Territories were due the full protections of the Constitution only when Congress had incorporated them as an "integral part" of the United States. The

dissenting opinion A dissenting opinion (or dissent) is an opinion in a legal case in certain legal systems written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the court which gives rise to its judgment. Dissenting opinions are norm ...

was written by Justice

John Marshall Harlan John Marshall Harlan (June 1, 1833 – October 14, 1911) was an American lawyer and politician who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1877 until his death in 1911. He is often called "The Great Dissenter" due to his ...

, who held that Congress was always bound to enact laws within the jurisdiction of the Constitution: "This nation is under the control of a written constitution, the supreme law of the land and the only source of the powers which our government, or any branch or officer of it, may exert at any time or at any place." He held that the Congress had no existence and thus had no authority outside the Constitution. He continued:

Aftermath

The idea of territorial incorporation is generally agreed to have arisen from Justice White's concurring decision noted above. "Incorporation", in this sense, does not refer to the legal process whereby a company takes on certain of the characteristics of a person (see incorporation). The concept of "territorial incorporation" is that the United States can be proprietor of a territory without having actually incorporated that territory into the United States. Unincorporated territories are not due the full benefits of the US Constitution, as noted from Justice White's decision above. The idea has been used in court cases ever since to affirm that the citizens of certain territories can be subject to laws and regulations that are not constitutionally applicable to other citizens of the United States. Many citizens of territories that have been designated unincorporated have seen the principle of territorial incorporation as a form of oppression.See, e.g.,

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Downes V. Bidwell 1901 in United States case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Fuller Court United States taxation and revenue case law Law of insular areas of the United States Legal history of Puerto Rico Oranges (fruit) 1901 in Puerto Rico