Mississippi v. Tennessee
U.S. Supreme Court · decided November 21, 2021 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- November 21, 2021
- Term
- October Term 2021
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Roberts
- Issue area
- Interstate Relations
- Disposition
- Petition denied or appeal dismissed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Unspecifiable
Opinion excerpt
(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2021 1 Syllabus NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321 , 337. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Syllabus MISSISSIPPI v. TENNESSEE ET AL. ON EXCEPTIONS TO REPORT OF SPECIAL MASTER No. 143, Orig. Argued October 4, 2021—Decided November 22, 2021 Mississippi brought an original action against Tennessee for damages and other relief related to the pumping of groundwater by the City of Memphis from the Middle Claiborne Aquifer, a valuable water re- source that lies beneath eight States. Mississippi argues that Tennes- see’s pumping—using wells Mississippi concedes are located entirely in Tennessee—siphons water away from Mississippi and amounts to a tortious taking of groundwater owned by Mississippi. Mississippi ex- pressly disclaims any equitable apportionment remedy, arguing that the “fundamental premise of this Court’s equitable apportionment ju- risprudence—that each of the opposing States has an equality of right to use the waters at issue—does not apply to this dispute.” Complaint ¶49. The Special Master appointed by the Court to…
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