DeLima v. Bidwell
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DeLima v. Bidwell, , was one of a group of the first Insular Cases decided by the United States Supreme Court.
The case was argued on January 8-11, 1901 and was decided on May 27, 1901.
The DeLima Sugar Importing Company sued the New York City collector of customs to recover duties on sugar imported from Puerto Rico after 1899, when Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States. DeLima argued that The Port of New York City had no jurisdiction to collect duties because Puerto Rico was annexed by the United States.
[edit] Lower Appellate Court
The lower appellate court had held:
- 1) although the collector had the right to challenge the factual sufficiency, he was barred from challenging federal jurisdiction on the basis of wrongful removal where the case was removed upon his own petition;
- 2) the Customs Administrative Act did not decide whether the sugar was imported from a foreign country, therefore the court case was a proper legal action; and
- 3) Puerto Rico was not a foreign country for tariff purposes but was a United States territory because, by treaty, the district was ceded to and in the possession of the United States. It was not necessary for an act of Congress to embrace the territory for the purpose of tariff laws. Therefore the duties on sugar were illegal, and DeLima Sugar Importing Company was entitled to get its duties on sugar back.
[edit] Supreme Court
The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision ruled that when the Treaty of Paris (1898) between the United States and Spain was ratified, Puerto Rico ceased to be a foreign country, but it was not a part of the United States, protected by the Constitution of the United States.
The Constitution fully applies only to residents in territories that have been formally incorporated into the United States through treaties or Acts of Congress. The Court left it up to the United States Congress to govern territories.
The majority opinion was authored by Henry Billings Brown, joined by Melville Fuller, John Marshall Harlan, Rufus Wheeler Peckham and David Josiah Brewer. Justice Joseph McKenna authored a dissent, which was joined by George Shiras, Jr., and Edward Douglass White. Justice Horace Gray authored a separate dissenting opinion.
