United States v. Schooner Peggy

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United States v. Schooner Peggy

Full case name:	The United States of America v. The Schooner Peggy

Citations:	5 U.S. 103
Prior history:	on Writ of Error to the Circuit Court of Connecticut

Subsequent history:	Lower court's judgment set aside, ship ordered returned to owners

Holding

A ruling that a ship be condemned is not a "final sentence" under the treaty of 21 December, 1801 until all appeals are completed.

Court membership

Chief Justice: John Marshall
Associate Justices: William Cushing, William Paterson, Samuel Chase, Bushrod Washington, Alfred Moore

Case opinions

Per curiam.

Laws applied

Treaty between the United States and France of 21 December, 1801.

United States v. Schooner Peggy, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 103 (1801) is a case of the Supreme Court of the United States. It was one of a series of cases resolving disputes over ships captured during the undeclared war between the United States and France from 1798 to 1800. The vessel was ordered returned to France.

1 Background of the case
2 The decision
3 See also
4 Notes and references
5 External links

[edit] Background of the case

From 1798 to 1800 the United States and France were engaged in many hostile Naval engagements.^[1] According to the law at the time an enemy vessel could be captured during time of war and then subject to siezure, a legal process through which the vessel was determined to be property of the capturing party.^[2] At the conclusion of the undeclared war with France a treaty was ratified that stated in part:

“

Property captured and not yet definitively condemned or which may be captured before the exchange of ratifications (contraband goods destined to an enemy's port excepted) shall be mutually restored. This article shall take effect from the date of the signature of the present convention. And if, from the date of the said signature, any property shall be condemned contrary to the intent of the said convention before the knowledge of this stipulation shall be obtained, the property so considered shall without delay be restored, or paid.

”

The treaty was thus retroactive to all vessels that had been captured but for which their siezeure was not yet final.^[3]

David Jewett was authorized as commander of the Trumbull to capture any vessel sailing under the flag of France. On April 24, 1800, it came upon the French schooner Peggy and captured it. The Peggy was returned to Connecticut where the local courts ruled her a prize of war in September of 1800. The owners of the Peggy appealed to the Supreme Court for her return.^[3]

[edit] The decision

The court ruled that the treaty was applicable as law and should apply retroactively to all seized vessels who's sentence was not yet final. Since the seizure of the vessel was on appeal to the Supreme Court at the time the treaty was ratified, the seizure was not final.^[3]. The vessel was ordered to be returned to France.

The case continues to be one in a long line of sometimes inconsistent precedents in civil retroactivity analysis.^[4]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

^ United States Department of State. The XYZ Affair and the Quasi-War with France, 1798-1800. Timeline of U.S. Diplomatic History. Retrieved on 2008-05-23.
^ International Institute of International Law (1913). Manual of the Laws of Naval War. Oxford: International Institute of International Law.
^ ^a ^b ^c United States v. Schooner Peggy, 5 U.S. 103 (1801).
^ Bassett, Debra Lyn (2001). "In the Wake of Schooner Peggy: Deconstructing Legislative Retroactivity Analysis". University of Cincinnati Law Review 69 (453).