Cook v. United States
Headline: Treaty narrows U.S. power to board and seize British ships for liquor smuggling, as Court blocks enforcement when ship was seized beyond the treaty’s one-hour sailing-distance limit.
Holding: The Court held that the 1924 treaty limits U.S. authority to board and seize British vessels for liquor-smuggling to distances a suspected vessel can travel in one hour, making the seizure unlawful.
- Limits U.S. boarding and seizure of foreign ships for liquor smuggling to treaty distances.
- Requires Coast Guard to follow treaty speed-based distance rules when stopping British vessels.
- Makes treaty terms decisive over a later unchanged statute for affected countries.
Summary
Background
A British motor vessel called the Mazel Tov, owned under Nova Scotia registry, was found off the Massachusetts coast carrying unmanifested alcoholic liquor. U.S. Coast Guard officers boarded and seized the ship more than ten miles from shore, brought it into Providence, and customs officials assessed a large penalty against the ship’s master for failing to list the liquor. The master sued to cancel the penalty, arguing the 1924 treaty with Britain limited when U.S. officers could board or seize British vessels.
Reasoning
The Court considered whether a 1924 treaty with Great Britain changed the reach of a statute that generally authorized boarding and search within four leagues (12 miles) of the coast. The treaty allowed boarding and seizure of British ships suspected of smuggling liquor only within the distance a suspected vessel could travel in one hour (based on its speed). The Court found the treaty, which postdates the earlier statute and was treated by U.S. departments as binding, narrowed the statute’s application to British vessels and was not cancelled by merely reenacting the statute in 1930 without mentioning the treaty.
Real world impact
Because the Mazel Tov could travel no more than ten miles per hour and was boarded at about 11.5 miles, the seizure fell outside the treaty’s one-hour limit and was unlawful. The Court therefore said the district court should have dismissed the government’s enforcement action. The ruling makes treaty terms controlling where a country has agreed limits on boarding and seizure of its ships.
Dissents or concurrances
Two Justices disagreed, believing the hovering statutes should allow broader seizures and that the treaty did not cut down long-standing enforcement rights; they would have upheld the government’s view.
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