Maryland v. West Virginia
Encyclopedia
Maryland v. West Virginia, , is a 9-to-0 ruling by the United States Supreme Court which held that the boundary between the American states of Maryland
and West Virginia
is the south bank of the Potomac River
. The decision also affirmed criteria for adjudicating boundary disputes between states, which said that decisions should be based on the specific facts of the case, applying the principles of law and equity in such a way that least disturbs private rights and title to land.
, King of England, made a land grant in North America to Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
which became the Province of Maryland
(later the state of Maryland
). This grant set the boundary of Maryland at the low-water mark of the southern bank of the Potomac River. On September 27, 1688, King James II
made a land grant in North American to Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper
which became the Colony of Virginia (later the state of Virginia). This grant designated "the Potomac River" as the boundary of Virginia. The conflicting grants led to a long-running border dispute between Maryland and Virginia. The two states settled navigational and riparian water rights
in a compact in 1785, but the boundary dispute continued.
Maryland entered into a separate dispute with Virginia regarding the placement of its true southern boundary in the west. The land grant given to Lord Baltimore stated that the Potomac River to its headwaters was to be the southern boundary of Maryland. From that point, a north-south meridian
set the state's western border. At that time no one realized that the Potomac River split into a North Branch and South Branch just east of Green Spring
in what is now Hampshire County, West Virginia
. The South Branch extended westward for many more miles than the North Branch. The question arose as to which branch constituted the main branch of the Potomac River. For many years, the North Branch was considered the main bed of the river, and Maryland's southern boundary was set there. In 1746, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
sent a party of surveyors
to find the headwaters of the Potomac River. On October 23, 1746, they located what they believed to be the headwaters at what is now Fairfax Stone Historical Monument State Park. They carved the letters "Ffx" and Lord Fairfax's coronet into a large pyramidal rock and placed it at the center of these headwaters. In 1748, the Fairfax Stone and the meridian north of it were approved by the Virginia House of Burgesses
and the King in Council
as the boundary between Virginia and Maryland. The Maryland Assembly passed legislation in April 1787 to formally establish this north-south meridian. Francis Deakins was appointed surveyor, and in 1788 established what became known as the "Deakins line." The Deakins line became the de facto border of Maryland. Unfortunately, the Deakins line was not straight, and it was not a true meridian but rather drifted to the east (intersecting the border with Pennsylvania
about three-quarters of a mile east of where it should have done).
Maryland and Virginia passed legislation in the early 1850s asking the federal government's help in establishing the true border in the area. In 1859, the United States Secretary of War
John B. Floyd
ordered Lieutenant Nathaniel Michler of the United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers
to establish a true meridian boundary. Virginia refused to accept this line as the true boundary, arguing that the Deakins line had long been accepted as the border between the two states.
In the interim, both states had been busy creating counties in the area and selling this land to private citizens. The state of Virginia created Monongalia County
in 1776 out of what was then the unincorporated territory of the District of West August. In 1780, two parts of then-Augusta County were also added to Monongalia County. In 1818, the Virginia state legislature created Preston County
out of a portion of Monongalia County. The state of Maryland in 1789 created Allegany County
from a portion of Washington County
, and then split Garrett County
off from Allegany County in 1872. Each state claimed the narrow triangular strip of land between them, leaving landowners in the area angry and confused.
During the American Civil War
, Virginia attempted to secede from the United States in 1861 over the issue of slavery. Voters in 41 northwestern counties of Virginia (including Preston County) voted to secede from Virginia the same year, and in 1863 the new state of West Virginia was admitted into the union with the United States. Virginia challenged both actions in the U.S. Supreme Court after the war ended, but the Court ruled in West Virginia's favor in Virginia v. West Virginia
, 78 U.S. 39 (1870). The new state of West Virginia also claimed the old Deakins line as its true boundary with Maryland.
On October 12, 1891, the state of Maryland filed suit against the state of West Virginia to settle a dispute regarding the nature of the true boundary between Allegany County, Maryland, and Preston County, West Virginia. By now, the South Branch had been determined to be the main source of the Potomac River, and Maryland began to claim the South Branch as its true southern boundary. In 1897, the state of Maryland appointed a team of surveyors to locate the headwaters of the South Branch of the Potomac River. A marker named the "Potomac Stone" was placed there, and a new survey line north to the Pennsylvania border established, which Maryland claimed as its new border.
William R. Day
wrote the decision for the unanimous Court.
Justice Day wrote extensively about the background of the boundary dispute, which was detailed, lengthy, complex, and fact-specific. Justice Day dismissed Maryland's claim to the South Branch and the meridian running north of the Potomac Stone, as the state of Maryland had not pressed the issue in its briefs and arguments before the Court.
As to whether the Deakins line or Michler line was the correct meridan, Justice Day conceded that the Michler line more truly reflected the intent of the land grant to Lord Baltimore. But Day also noted that maps in that era were inaccurate at best, and little surveying of the land had been done. The location of the Fairfax Stone, however, was known and clearly had been referred to as a boundary marker by both states. Indeed, the constitution of Maryland
even referred to it as such.
Day concluded that custom and law both accorded the Deakins line the status of official boundary, even if the state of Maryland routinely contested that line as such. "...the evidence contained in this record leaves no room to doubt that after the running of the Deakins line the people of that region knew and referred to it as the line between the state of Virginia and the state of Maryland." Day cited numerous examples in which both states and the people of both states treated the Deakins line as the boundary between the two states. Such evidence determined the true boundary under principles of equity, Day said. He referred to Virginia v. Tennessee
, 148 U.S. 503 (1893), and quoted the holding in that case:"'...a boundary line ... which has been run out, located, and marked upon the earth, and afterwards recognized and acquiesced in by the parties for a long course of years, is conclusive, even if it be ascertained that it varies somewhat from the courses given in the original grant...'" Day traced the lineage of this decision rule back through State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts
, 37 U.S. 657 (1838), State of Rhode Island v. State of Massachusetts, 45 U.S. 591 (1846), State of Indiana v. State of Kentucky, 136 U.S. 479 (1890), and State of Louisiana v. State of Mississippi, 202 U.S. 1 (1906).
Day acknowledged Maryland's attempts over the past 150 years to dispute the boundary. But he concluded that Maryland's legislative statements unpersuasive in the face of a de facto boundary treated as such as landowners. "True it is, that, after the running of the Deakins line, certain steps were taken, intended to provide a more effectual legal settlement and delimitation of the boundary. But none of these steps were effectual, or such as to disturb the continued possession of the people claiming rights up to the boundary line." Citing State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts again, Day noted that "a right in its nature prescriptive has arisen, practically undisturbed for many years, not to be overthrown without doing violence to principles of established right and justice equally binding upon states and individuals."
As for West Virginia's cross-claim that its boundary was the high-water mark on the far shore of the Potomac River, Day found Morris v. United States
, 174 U.S. 196 (1899), conclusive and dismissed the claim. He held that Maryland's border ran to the low-water mark on the southern bank of the river.
The majority held that a commission of surveyors should be appointed to permanently mark the Deakins line from the Fairfax Stone to the Pennsylvania border.
The case clearly established that West Virginia's riparian water rights
to the Potomac River are the same as Virginia's, as established in Morris v. United States. However, in New Jersey v. New York, 523 U.S. 767 (1998), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a state can acquiesce in the regulation of its water rights by another state and still maintain its sovereign authority over those rights only so long as it protests the regulation. In Virginia v. Maryland
, 540 U.S. 56 (2003), the Court dealt with a situation in which the state of Virginia sought to exercise its riparian rights over the Potomac River. Maryland statute and regulation did not permit this exercise of rights, and Virginia sued. The U.S. Supreme Court held that Virginia had maintained its sovereignty over its riparian rights by continuously protesting Maryland's assertion of jurisdiction. This has led some legal observers to conclude that West Virginia, too, must begin protesting Maryland's assertion of regulatory jurisdiction in order for West Virginia to maintain sovereignty over its riparian rights.
The Supreme Court in Maryland v. West Virginia also applied a legal principle known as "prescription" to the boundary dispute. The concept of prescription is based on the idea that a state or individual's uninterrupted possession to land creates a claim on that land. The assumption of the courts has been that a state or person will seek to possess that which is his, and that silence and/or neglect to regain possession indicates the original owner's intent to relinquish the land. Maryland v. West Virginia is considered a classic case where the doctrine of prescription is applied. Although some legal scholars have attempted to provide criteria which would trigger prescription (e.g., 50 years of uninterrupted possession), in Maryland v. West Virginia the Supreme Court held that such decisions must be intensively fact-specific.
Maryland v. West Virginia is also a classic case of the high court applying the legal rule of "de minimis non curat lex." This Latin phrase translates into English as "the law does not concern itself with trifles." The "de minimis" rule was commonly used by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 19th century in areas such as contract, admiralty
, and property law
. The "de minimis" rule was used in Maryland v. West Virginia as well, and this is considered one of the most important uses of the rule in the early 20th century.
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
is the south bank of the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
. The decision also affirmed criteria for adjudicating boundary disputes between states, which said that decisions should be based on the specific facts of the case, applying the principles of law and equity in such a way that least disturbs private rights and title to land.
Background
On June 20, 1632, Charles ICharles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, King of England, made a land grant in North America to Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, 1st Proprietor and 1st Proprietary Governor of Maryland, 9th Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland , was an English peer who was the first proprietor of the Province of Maryland. He received the proprietorship after the death of his father, George Calvert, the...
which became the Province of Maryland
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
(later the state of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
). This grant set the boundary of Maryland at the low-water mark of the southern bank of the Potomac River. On September 27, 1688, King James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
made a land grant in North American to Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper
Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper
Thomas Colpeper, 2nd Baron Culpeper of Thoresway was the colonial governor of Virginia from 1677 to 1683.-Biography:...
which became the Colony of Virginia (later the state of Virginia). This grant designated "the Potomac River" as the boundary of Virginia. The conflicting grants led to a long-running border dispute between Maryland and Virginia. The two states settled navigational and riparian water rights
Riparian water rights
Riparian water rights are system for allocating water among those who possess land about its source. It has its origins in English common law...
in a compact in 1785, but the boundary dispute continued.
Maryland entered into a separate dispute with Virginia regarding the placement of its true southern boundary in the west. The land grant given to Lord Baltimore stated that the Potomac River to its headwaters was to be the southern boundary of Maryland. From that point, a north-south meridian
Meridian (geography)
A meridian is an imaginary line on the Earth's surface from the North Pole to the South Pole that connects all locations along it with a given longitude. The position of a point along the meridian is given by its latitude. Each meridian is perpendicular to all circles of latitude...
set the state's western border. At that time no one realized that the Potomac River split into a North Branch and South Branch just east of Green Spring
Green Spring, West Virginia
Green Spring is an unincorporated census-designated place and railroad town in Hampshire County, West Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 218. Green Spring is located north of Springfield on Green Spring Road near the confluence of the North and South Branches of the Potomac...
in what is now Hampshire County, West Virginia
Hampshire County, West Virginia
Hampshire County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 23,964. Its county seat is Romney, West Virginia's oldest town . Hampshire County was created by the Virginia General Assembly on December 13, 1753, from parts of Frederick and Augusta counties ...
. The South Branch extended westward for many more miles than the North Branch. The question arose as to which branch constituted the main branch of the Potomac River. For many years, the North Branch was considered the main bed of the river, and Maryland's southern boundary was set there. In 1746, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron was the son of Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and of Catherine, daughter of Thomas Culpeper, 2nd Baron Culpeper of Thoresway....
sent a party of surveyors
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
to find the headwaters of the Potomac River. On October 23, 1746, they located what they believed to be the headwaters at what is now Fairfax Stone Historical Monument State Park. They carved the letters "Ffx" and Lord Fairfax's coronet into a large pyramidal rock and placed it at the center of these headwaters. In 1748, the Fairfax Stone and the meridian north of it were approved by the Virginia House of Burgesses
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the first assembly of elected representatives of English colonists in North America. The House was established by the Virginia Company, who created the body as part of an effort to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America...
and the King in Council
Queen-in-Council
The Queen-in-Council is, in each of the Commonwealth realms, the technical term of constitutional law that refers to the exercise of executive authority, denoting the monarch acting by and with the advice and consent of his or her privy council or executive council The Queen-in-Council (during...
as the boundary between Virginia and Maryland. The Maryland Assembly passed legislation in April 1787 to formally establish this north-south meridian. Francis Deakins was appointed surveyor, and in 1788 established what became known as the "Deakins line." The Deakins line became the de facto border of Maryland. Unfortunately, the Deakins line was not straight, and it was not a true meridian but rather drifted to the east (intersecting the border with Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
about three-quarters of a mile east of where it should have done).
Maryland and Virginia passed legislation in the early 1850s asking the federal government's help in establishing the true border in the area. In 1859, the United States Secretary of War
United States Secretary of War
The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
John B. Floyd
John B. Floyd
John Buchanan Floyd was the 31st Governor of Virginia, U.S. Secretary of War, and the Confederate general in the American Civil War who lost the crucial Battle of Fort Donelson.-Early life:...
ordered Lieutenant Nathaniel Michler of the United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
to establish a true meridian boundary. Virginia refused to accept this line as the true boundary, arguing that the Deakins line had long been accepted as the border between the two states.
In the interim, both states had been busy creating counties in the area and selling this land to private citizens. The state of Virginia created Monongalia County
Monongalia County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 81,866 people, 33,446 households, and 18,495 families residing in the county. The population density was 227 people per square mile . There were 36,695 housing units at an average density of 102 per square mile...
in 1776 out of what was then the unincorporated territory of the District of West August. In 1780, two parts of then-Augusta County were also added to Monongalia County. In 1818, the Virginia state legislature created Preston County
Preston County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 29,334 people, 11,544 households, and 8,357 families residing in the county. The population density was 45 people per square mile . There were 13,444 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile...
out of a portion of Monongalia County. The state of Maryland in 1789 created Allegany County
Allegany County, Maryland
Allegany County is a county located in the northwestern part of the US state of Maryland. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 75,087. Its county seat is Cumberland...
from a portion of Washington County
Washington County, Maryland
Washington County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering southern Pennsylvania to the north, northern Virginia to the south, and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia to the south and west. As of the 2010 Census, its population is 147,430...
, and then split Garrett County
Garrett County, Maryland
Garrett County is the westernmost county of the U.S. state of Maryland. Created from Allegany County, Maryland in 1872 it was the last Maryland county to be formed. It was named for John Work Garrett , railroad executive, industrialist, and financier. Garrett served as president of the Baltimore...
off from Allegany County in 1872. Each state claimed the narrow triangular strip of land between them, leaving landowners in the area angry and confused.
During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Virginia attempted to secede from the United States in 1861 over the issue of slavery. Voters in 41 northwestern counties of Virginia (including Preston County) voted to secede from Virginia the same year, and in 1863 the new state of West Virginia was admitted into the union with the United States. Virginia challenged both actions in the U.S. Supreme Court after the war ended, but the Court ruled in West Virginia's favor in Virginia v. West Virginia
Virginia v. West Virginia
Virginia v. West Virginia, 78 U.S. 39 , is a 6-to-3 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States which held that where a governor has discretion in the conduct of the election, the legislature is bound by his action and cannot undo the results based on fraud...
, 78 U.S. 39 (1870). The new state of West Virginia also claimed the old Deakins line as its true boundary with Maryland.
On October 12, 1891, the state of Maryland filed suit against the state of West Virginia to settle a dispute regarding the nature of the true boundary between Allegany County, Maryland, and Preston County, West Virginia. By now, the South Branch had been determined to be the main source of the Potomac River, and Maryland began to claim the South Branch as its true southern boundary. In 1897, the state of Maryland appointed a team of surveyors to locate the headwaters of the South Branch of the Potomac River. A marker named the "Potomac Stone" was placed there, and a new survey line north to the Pennsylvania border established, which Maryland claimed as its new border.
Opinion of the Court
Associate JusticeAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States...
William R. Day
William R. Day
William Rufus Day was an American diplomat and jurist, who served for nineteen years as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.-Biography:...
wrote the decision for the unanimous Court.
Justice Day wrote extensively about the background of the boundary dispute, which was detailed, lengthy, complex, and fact-specific. Justice Day dismissed Maryland's claim to the South Branch and the meridian running north of the Potomac Stone, as the state of Maryland had not pressed the issue in its briefs and arguments before the Court.
As to whether the Deakins line or Michler line was the correct meridan, Justice Day conceded that the Michler line more truly reflected the intent of the land grant to Lord Baltimore. But Day also noted that maps in that era were inaccurate at best, and little surveying of the land had been done. The location of the Fairfax Stone, however, was known and clearly had been referred to as a boundary marker by both states. Indeed, the constitution of Maryland
Maryland Constitution
The current Constitution of the State of Maryland, which was ratified by the people of the state on September 18, 1867, forms the basic law for the U.S. state of Maryland. It replaced the short-lived Maryland Constitution of 1864 and is the fourth constitution under which the state has been...
even referred to it as such.
Day concluded that custom and law both accorded the Deakins line the status of official boundary, even if the state of Maryland routinely contested that line as such. "...the evidence contained in this record leaves no room to doubt that after the running of the Deakins line the people of that region knew and referred to it as the line between the state of Virginia and the state of Maryland." Day cited numerous examples in which both states and the people of both states treated the Deakins line as the boundary between the two states. Such evidence determined the true boundary under principles of equity, Day said. He referred to Virginia v. Tennessee
Virginia v. Tennessee
Virginia v. Tennessee, 148 U.S. 503 , was a decision of the United States Supreme Court, which had two questions: What is the correct boundary between the two states, and if the boundary was inaccurately set, can the state ask the court to change it? Does an agreement setting the boundary...
, 148 U.S. 503 (1893), and quoted the holding in that case:"'...a boundary line ... which has been run out, located, and marked upon the earth, and afterwards recognized and acquiesced in by the parties for a long course of years, is conclusive, even if it be ascertained that it varies somewhat from the courses given in the original grant...'" Day traced the lineage of this decision rule back through State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts
The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations v. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations v. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a 1838 Supreme Court of the United States decision....
, 37 U.S. 657 (1838), State of Rhode Island v. State of Massachusetts, 45 U.S. 591 (1846), State of Indiana v. State of Kentucky, 136 U.S. 479 (1890), and State of Louisiana v. State of Mississippi, 202 U.S. 1 (1906).
Day acknowledged Maryland's attempts over the past 150 years to dispute the boundary. But he concluded that Maryland's legislative statements unpersuasive in the face of a de facto boundary treated as such as landowners. "True it is, that, after the running of the Deakins line, certain steps were taken, intended to provide a more effectual legal settlement and delimitation of the boundary. But none of these steps were effectual, or such as to disturb the continued possession of the people claiming rights up to the boundary line." Citing State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts again, Day noted that "a right in its nature prescriptive has arisen, practically undisturbed for many years, not to be overthrown without doing violence to principles of established right and justice equally binding upon states and individuals."
As for West Virginia's cross-claim that its boundary was the high-water mark on the far shore of the Potomac River, Day found Morris v. United States
Morris v. United States
Morris v. United States, 174 U.S. 196 , is a 5-to-2 ruling by the United States Supreme Court which held that the bed under the Potomac River between the District of Columbia and the state of Virginia belonged to the United States government rather than nearby private landowners on the District of...
, 174 U.S. 196 (1899), conclusive and dismissed the claim. He held that Maryland's border ran to the low-water mark on the southern bank of the river.
The majority held that a commission of surveyors should be appointed to permanently mark the Deakins line from the Fairfax Stone to the Pennsylvania border.
Subsequent developments
The Supreme Court appointed a team of surveyors to survey the new boundary, and establish it by placing granite slabs every half-mile. In Maryland v. West Virginia, 225 U.S. 1, decided May 2, 1912, the Supreme Court accepted the report of the commissioners, overruled in a per curiam decision the exceptions filed by the state of Maryland, and ordered the boundary set.The case clearly established that West Virginia's riparian water rights
Riparian water rights
Riparian water rights are system for allocating water among those who possess land about its source. It has its origins in English common law...
to the Potomac River are the same as Virginia's, as established in Morris v. United States. However, in New Jersey v. New York, 523 U.S. 767 (1998), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a state can acquiesce in the regulation of its water rights by another state and still maintain its sovereign authority over those rights only so long as it protests the regulation. In Virginia v. Maryland
Virginia v. Maryland
Virginia v. Maryland, 540 U.S. 56 is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States settled a dispute between the Commonwealth of Virginia and the State of Maryland regarding Virginia's riparian rights to the Potomac River...
, 540 U.S. 56 (2003), the Court dealt with a situation in which the state of Virginia sought to exercise its riparian rights over the Potomac River. Maryland statute and regulation did not permit this exercise of rights, and Virginia sued. The U.S. Supreme Court held that Virginia had maintained its sovereignty over its riparian rights by continuously protesting Maryland's assertion of jurisdiction. This has led some legal observers to conclude that West Virginia, too, must begin protesting Maryland's assertion of regulatory jurisdiction in order for West Virginia to maintain sovereignty over its riparian rights.
The Supreme Court in Maryland v. West Virginia also applied a legal principle known as "prescription" to the boundary dispute. The concept of prescription is based on the idea that a state or individual's uninterrupted possession to land creates a claim on that land. The assumption of the courts has been that a state or person will seek to possess that which is his, and that silence and/or neglect to regain possession indicates the original owner's intent to relinquish the land. Maryland v. West Virginia is considered a classic case where the doctrine of prescription is applied. Although some legal scholars have attempted to provide criteria which would trigger prescription (e.g., 50 years of uninterrupted possession), in Maryland v. West Virginia the Supreme Court held that such decisions must be intensively fact-specific.
Maryland v. West Virginia is also a classic case of the high court applying the legal rule of "de minimis non curat lex." This Latin phrase translates into English as "the law does not concern itself with trifles." The "de minimis" rule was commonly used by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 19th century in areas such as contract, admiralty
Admiralty law
Admiralty law is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. It is a body of both domestic law governing maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between private entities which operate vessels on the oceans...
, and property law
Property law
Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property and in personal property, within the common law legal system. In the civil law system, there is a division between movable and immovable property...
. The "de minimis" rule was used in Maryland v. West Virginia as well, and this is considered one of the most important uses of the rule in the early 20th century.