United States v. Maine
Headline: Court approves detailed coastal boundary lines between federal submerged lands and Massachusetts, upholding the Special Master’s map and specifying control over offshore areas near Cape Ann, Cape Cod, and Cuttyhunk.
Holding: The Court adopts the Special Master’s recommendations and enters a supplemental decree defining precise coastline lines to determine the boundary between United States submerged lands and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
- Clarifies which government controls specified underwater coastal areas.
- Implements precise coastline coordinates for official use on nautical charts.
- Continues the Special Master’s role to resolve remaining issues.
Summary
Background
The dispute involves the federal government and the state of Massachusetts over exactly where the line falls between underwater coastal areas owned by the United States and those owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Court had previously entered a decree and appointed Judge Walter E. Hoffman as a Special Master to work out details. The Special Master filed a Report recommending a supplemental decree that pins down the coastline with precise straight lines, chart coordinates, and named points such as Eastern Point on Cape Ann, Strawberry Point, Brant Rock, Race Point on Cape Cod, Gooseberry Neck, and Cuttyhunk Island.
Reasoning
The Court’s task was narrowly practical: to decide whether to accept the Special Master’s recommended supplemental decree that defines the coastline for the specified areas. The Court received the Report, noted that both the federal government and the state had said they accepted the recommendations, and ordered the Report filed. The Court therefore entered the supplemental decree adopting those specific lines and coordinates as the coastline for the areas described in its earlier decree of October 6, 1975.
Real world impact
As a result, the decree clarifies which submerged areas offshore are treated as federal lands and which belong to the state of Massachusetts for the named coastal stretches. The Court also continued the Special Master’s reference to handle any remaining issues and retained jurisdiction to issue further orders if needed. This ruling is a technical boundary decision that implements mapped coordinates rather than changing broad legal rules.
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