Martin v Hunter\'s Lessee Brief PDF

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Brief of Martin v Hunter's Lessee...

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September 7, 2020 Martin v Hunter’s Lessee

Facts: 

Virginia created laws that allowed land of Loyalists to the British Crown, to be seized

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An ejectment action was brought to David Martin (Fairfax) for his land which he claimed a title, and to be given to David Hunter

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Martin (defendant) was granted in favor, and Hunter appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court o Court reversed the judgement of the district court and voted in favor of Hunter o Martin appealed again appealed to US Supreme Court

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Supreme Court said law violated a 1783 Treaty of Paris (Congress recommend to states that they restore confiscated property to Loyalists) signed by the federal government after the war o Reversed judgement: Treaty trumped state law

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Virginia Court disagreed and didn’t consider itself subordinate to Supreme Court o Declined to follow order o Struck down Section 25 of Judiciary Act of 1789 as unconstitutional o Decision was appealed to US Supreme Court

Arguments: 1. For David Martin 

Uniform practices confirm jurisdiction of Court

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Judicial power extends to this class of cases

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In the power of the judiciary

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State judiciaries are incompetent to say what’s the law of the land

2. For Hunter’s Lessee 

Court can only review decisions of the lower federal courts

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Sovereignty and independence of states will be impaired if Supreme Court keeps exercising appellate jurisdiction

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State court judges take an oath to uphold Constitution and can be trusted to interpret it

Opinion: 

Written by Justice Joseph Story

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Rejected the notion that Virginia held equal sovereignty to the federal government o Constitution made federal law supreme over state law (Supremacy Clause) o Important to have a single interpretation o Federal courts need to review state-court decisions on issues of state laws related to federal matters otherwise federal issues are meaningless...