Cherokee Nation v. Georgia

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
Supreme Court of the United States
Original jurisdiction Decided March 18, 1831
Full case name	The Cherokee Nation v. The State of Georgia
Citations	30 U.S. 1 (more) 5 Pet. 1; 8 L. Ed. 25; 1831 U.S. LEXIS 337
Case history
Prior	Original jurisdiction
Outcome
The Supreme Court does not have original jurisdiction to hear a suit brought by the Cherokee Nation, which is not a "foreign State" within the meaning of Article III of the federal constitution.
Court membership
Chief Justice John Marshall Associate Justices William Johnson · Gabriel Duvall Joseph Story · Smith Thompson John McLean · Henry Baldwin
Case opinions
Majority	Marshall
Concurrence	Johnson
Concurrence	Baldwin
Dissent	Thompson, joined by Story
Laws applied
U.S. Const. art. III

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. (5 Pet.) 1 (1831), was a United States Supreme Court case. The Cherokee Nation sought a federal injunction against laws passed by the U.S. state of Georgia depriving them of rights within its boundaries, but the Supreme Court did not hear the case on its merits. It ruled that it had no original jurisdiction in the matter, as the Cherokees were a dependent nation, with a relationship to the United States like that of a "ward to its guardian," as said by Chief Justice Marshall.^[1]