Worcester v. Georgia | |
---|---|
Argued February 20, 1832 Decided March 3, 1832 | |
Full case name | Samuel S. Worcester v. State of Georgia |
Citations | 31 U.S. 515 (more) 6 Pet. 515; 8 L. Ed. 483 |
Case history | |
Prior | Plaintiff convicted in Gwinnett County, Georgia by the Georgia Superior Court (September 15, 1831) |
Subsequent | None |
Holding | |
Worcester's conviction is void because states have no criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country. | |
Court membership | |
| |
Case opinions | |
Majority | Marshall, joined by Johnson, Duvall, Story, Thompson |
Concurrence | McLean |
Dissent | Baldwin |
Laws applied | |
U.S. Const. art. I |
Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 515 (1832), was a landmark case in which the United States Supreme Court vacated the conviction of Samuel Worcester and held that the Georgia criminal statute that prohibited non-Native Americans from being present on Native American lands without a license from the state was unconstitutional. The opinion is most famous for its dicta, which laid out the relationship between tribes and the state and federal governments. It is considered to have built the foundations of the doctrine of tribal sovereignty in the United States.