State of New Jersey v. State of Delaware
552 U.S. 597 · No. 134 ORIG · 2007 term · Roberts Court
Decided Mar 31, 2008 · argued Nov 27, 2007
Interstate relations · Boundary dispute between states
Majority opinion: Ruth Ginsburg
The voteMajorityDissent
5–35 in the majority, 3 in dissent
3 dissents (6–3)
State of New Jersey lost.
What this ruling means
State of New Jersey was the petitioner, the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the case. “Lost” means the Court did not give that side the result it asked for.
From the Supreme Court Database. A justice who agreed with the result but not the reasoning counts in the majority.
Summary
The opening of the case’s Wikipedia article: what the case was about and what the Court held.
New Jersey v. Delaware, 552 U.S. 597 (2008), is a United States Supreme Court case in which New Jersey sued Delaware, invoking the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1251(a), following Delaware's denial of oil company BP's petition to build a liquefied natural gas pipeline and loading facility on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. Delaware denied BP's petition because it violated Delaware's Coastal Zone Act. BP then sought New Jersey's approval of the project. Delaware objected because the construction would require dredging of underwater land within Delaware's borders, which extend to the low-tide mark of the New Jersey shore. BP's proposal had not yet passed New Jersey's approval process when New Jersey and BP filed suit against Delaware.
Jurisdiction over rivers that form a border between states is usually determined by dividing the river down the middle between the states; this is not the case with the Delaware River. Delaware–New Jersey's curious border is the result of a grant by King Charles II in 1681, when the Delaware Colony was leased by William Penn from King Charles to become the three lower counties of Pennsylvania. The grant extended Delaware's northern border by The Twelve-Mile Circle in New Castle, Delaware, extending across the Delaware River. If the circle were to be extended fully, it would have included a portion of New Jersey, but this was unacceptable because that land had already been granted. As a result, the 12-Mile-Circle terminated at the mean low water mark on New Jersey's shore. The post-1681 border gave present-day Delaware full ownership of the Delaware River along a stretch of the New Jersey border.
The case adjudicated by the Supreme Court is the third incarnation of this litigation. The dispute over the border reaches back to the nation's creation. A settlement was reached between the States at the beginning of the 20th century because the costs of litigation had grown too high. The issue remained settled until New Jersey sued Delaware regarding the BP pipeline.
Data notes
The text is Wikipedia’s (CC BY-SA 4.0), matched to the case by its citation, docket number or name and year, and is not checked against the opinion. The site keeps the article’s opening section, ending on its last full sentence. The one-sentence summary under the title is the Decisions list’s: Wikipedia’s own ruling sentence, or, tagged “AI-written”, one Claude wrote from this opening.
How the justices voted
Each justice who took part, placed by their Martin–Quinn ideology score for the 2007 term. Filled: the 5 in the majority. Hollow: the 3 in dissent. Colour is the party of the president who appointed them.
Majority(5)
Ruth GinsburgWrote the majority opinion
David SouterJoined the majority
Anthony KennedyJoined the majority
John RobertsJoined the majority
Clarence ThomasJoined the majority
Dissent(3)
John StevensWrote a dissent
Antonin ScaliaWrote a dissent
Samuel AlitoJoined a dissent
Did not take part: Stephen Breyer.
Data notes
Each justice’s vote and what they wrote are from the justice-centered file of the Supreme Court Database. “Wrote a concurrence” means the justice sided with the majority and wrote separately; a justice who dissented in part is counted on the side they took overall. A justice who wrote nothing is listed as joining their side.
Positions are each justice’s Martin–Quinn score for the case’s term, the same scores as the Ideology page: negative is more liberal, positive more conservative. A score sums up a justice’s votes across the whole term, so it says where they usually sit, not why they voted as they did here. The median line is the Court’s median justice that term.
The parties
Who brought the case to the Court, who answered it, and how it got there.
- Petitioner
- State of New JerseyState (New Jersey)
- Respondent
- State of DelawareState (Delaware)
- Reached the Court by
- Original jurisdiction (filed directly in the Supreme Court)
Data notes
The names are the two sides of the case’s title. The description under each is the Supreme Court Database’s category for that party, in its own wording. The petitioner is the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the decision below. “Why it was taken” appears only when the majority opinion says lower courts disagreed or were unsure about the question; reasons that would fit any case (“to resolve the question presented”, “an important question”) are left out.
The law at issue
The law the Court was asked to apply, and the kind of power it used to decide.
- Provision
- Interstate Compact
- Kind of law
- Other
- Decided by
- Statutory construction
Data notes
The Supreme Court Database codes the main constitutional provision, statute or court rule each case turned on, and the basis of the decision: judicial review of a federal or state law, interpreting a statute, supervising the lower courts, and so on. A case can rest on more than one. “Overruled” counts only where the majority opinion says so.
Timeline
What happened at the Court and how the case got there, newest first.
- Mar 31, 2008DecidedDecided · Decided 5–3. State of New Jersey lost.
- Nov 27, 2007ArguedArgued · Oral argument before the Court.
- Not datedFiledFiled · Filed directly in the Supreme Court, under its original jurisdiction.
Data notes
From the Supreme Court Database: the court the case began in, the court whose decision the Supreme Court reviewed and what that court did, how the case came to the Court, and the dates of argument and decision. The database does not date the steps in the lower courts. Court names are the database’s.
Other decisions on the same issue
16 other argued cases since 1946 on boundary dispute between states, newest first.
- State of New Hampshire v. State of Maine532 U.S. 742May 29, 2001 · 532 U.S. 742Interstate relations8–0Unanimous band
- State of New Jersey v. State of New York523 U.S. 767May 26, 1998 · 523 U.S. 767Interstate relations6–36–3 band
- Louisiana v. Mississippi et al.516 U.S. 22Oct 31, 1995 · 516 U.S. 22Interstate relations9–0Unanimous band
- State of Illinois v. Commonwealth of Kentucky500 U.S. 380May 28, 1991 · 500 U.S. 380Interstate relations9–0Unanimous band
- Georgia v. South Carolina497 U.S. 376Jun 25, 1990 · 497 U.S. 376Interstate relations9–0Unanimous band
- Louisiana v. Mississippi et al.466 U.S. 96Apr 2, 1984 · 466 U.S. 96Interstate relations9–0Unanimous band
- California v. Nevada447 U.S. 125Jun 10, 1980 · 447 U.S. 125Interstate relations9–0Unanimous band
- Ohio v. Kentucky444 U.S. 335Jan 21, 1980 · 444 U.S. 335Interstate relations6–36–3 band
- Texas v. Louisiana426 U.S. 465Jun 14, 1976 · 426 U.S. 465Interstate relations9–0Unanimous band
- New Hampshire v. Maine426 U.S. 363Jun 14, 1976 · 426 U.S. 363Interstate relations6–36–3 band
- Mississippi v. Arkansas415 U.S. 289Feb 26, 1974 · 415 U.S. 289Interstate relations8–18–1 band
- Texas v. Louisiana410 U.S. 702Mar 20, 1973 · 410 U.S. 702Interstate relations8–18–1 band
- Ohio v. Kentucky410 U.S. 641Mar 5, 1973 · 410 U.S. 641Interstate relations8–18–1 band
- Nebraska v. Iowa406 U.S. 117Apr 24, 1972 · 406 U.S. 117Interstate relations9–0Unanimous band
- Arkansas v. Tennessee397 U.S. 88Jan 25, 1970 · 397 U.S. 88Interstate relations8–0Unanimous band
- Durfee et ux. v. Duke375 U.S. 106Dec 2, 1963 · 375 U.S. 106Interstate relations9–0Unanimous band
Data notes
Every other orally argued case with a clear vote, from the 1946 term on, that the Supreme Court Database files under the same issue as this one. The database gives each case one issue from a list of about 270 (abortion, search and seizure of vehicles, the death penalty, and so on), whatever law it turned on.
Official record
Read the full opinion on Justia and Wikipedia. Case data from the Supreme Court Database, Version 2026 Release 01, through the 2025 term.