Hugo Black

“ Accepting, as I think we should, the desire of Congress to have the ancient boundaries of these Gulf States determined on the basis of their long-unchallenged claims, rather than by the use of subtle and refined legal inferences, I am led to the conclusion that the other Gulf States, as well as Texas, are entitled to prevail over the Government here. It is admitted that prior to 1937 the United States never claimed any title to, or exercised any possession over, any part of these marginal lands, either within or without three-mile limits, except under grants from the States. ”

“ Nevertheless, each constitutional definition provides some color of title for each State's claim of a boundary extending at least three leagues from its coastline. The paper claims of each State, therefore, merely add some weight to the overwhelming fact, as Congress saw it, that for more than 100 years all the Gulf States exercised the only possession, dominion and sovereignty over the submerged lands adjacent to their coastlines that was ever exercised at all. ”

“ There are still oil wells out there. For many years royalties from those wells have gone into the public treasury of the State of Louisiana. This income has become a part of the very life of the State. [28] It constitutes a large part of the support of the State's public-school system. To take these marginal lands away from the State of Louisiana and give Texas the lands it claims-when Texas apparently has no wells at all beyond the three-mile limit-seems to me completely incompatible with the kind of justice and fairness that the Congress wanted to bring about by this Act. ”