Also known as: maritime jurisdictions · admiralty jurisdiction
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The constitutional grant of judicial power to the federal courts over all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. This authority reaches civil and criminal matters arising from traditional maritime activities, including conduct on navigable waters and the high seas.
Captain Luis Ortega operates a cargo vessel for BlueWave Shipping. While transiting just outside a coastal state's territorial sea, Ortega allegedly ordered hazardous waste pumped overboard. The federal government charged Ortega in federal district court under a federal environmental statute. The court denied the motion to dismiss because the case falls within the constitutional grant of maritime jurisdiction.
A privateer captured a foreign vessel on the high seas during wartime and brought it into a United States port. The owner challenged the district court's authority to adjudicate the prize claim. The court exercised maritime jurisdiction over the proceeding because the capture occurred on navigable waters beyond any state's borders.
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Mexican authorities arrested a foreign national in Mexico and delivered him to United States agents for prosecution on charges arising from events on the high seas. The defendant moved to dismiss, arguing lack of jurisdiction. The court upheld federal authority because the underlying conduct implicated maritime jurisdiction under Article III.
Yes. The constitutional grant reaches cases involving foreign vessels and foreign nationals when the conduct occurs on navigable waters or the high seas and Congress has enacted a federal statute addressing the activity.
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Yes. When a plaintiff files a civil damages action on the law side of the court and makes a timely jury demand, the constitutional jury right applies even though the claim also falls within admiralty jurisdiction.
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No. The saving-to-suitors clause preserves concurrent remedies in state court for many maritime claims, although federal courts hold exclusive jurisdiction over certain in rem proceedings.
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…133 Penhallow and al. v. Doane's administrators. 3 Dall. 54 Jennings v. Carson, 4 Cranch, 2 . Over what captures, then, has the admiralty jurisdiction as a prize Court? This is a question of considerable intricacy, and has not as yet, to my knowledge, been fully settled. It has been doubted whether the admiralty has an inherent…