State of Arizona v. State of California, et al. (530 U.S. 392)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 19, 2000 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 530 U.S. 392 · 120 S. Ct. 2304
- Decided
- June 19, 2000
- Term
- October Term 1999
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Ginsburg
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court. In the latest chapter of this long-litigated original-jurisdiction ease, the Queehan Tribe (Tribe) and the United States on the Tribe’s behalf assert claims for increased rights to water from the Colorado River. These claims are based on the contention that the Fort Yuma (Queehan) Indian Reservation encompasses some 25,000 acres of disputed boundary lands not attributed to that reservation in earlier stages of the litigation. In this decision, we resolve a threshold question regarding these claims to additional water rights: Are the claims precluded by this Court’s prior decision in Arizona v. California, 873 U. S. 546 (1963) (Arizona I), or by a consent judgment entered by the United States Claims Court in 1983? The Special Master has prepared a report recommending that the Court reject the first ground for preclusion but accept the second. We reject both grounds for preclusion and remand the case to the Special Master for consideration of the claims for additional water rights appurtenant to the disputed boundary lands. I This litigation began in 1952 when Arizona invoked our original jurisdiction to settle a dispute with California over the extent of each State’s right to use water from the Colorado River system. Nevada intervened, seeking a determination of its water rights, and Utah and New Mexico were joined as…
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