Beavins' Petition

33 N.H. 89
Supreme Court of New Hampshire·Decided July 15, 1856·Published

Opinion

Fowler, J.

By the 8th section of the 1st article of the Constitution, the power is expressly conferred upon Congress to establish a uniform rule of naturalization.” And although there was a momentary hesitation, when the Constitution first went into operation, whether the power might not still be exercised by the States, subject only to the control of Congress, so far as the legislation of the latter extended as the supreme law, yet the power is now firmly established to be exclusive. 3 Story on the Const. 3, and authorities there collected.

By the 1st section of the 3d article of the Constitution, it is provided that the judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” Under this clause it has been determined that it is the duty of Congress not only to establish a Supreme Court, but all such inferior tribunals as may be necessary to exercise all the jurisdiction conferred by the Constitution upon the judiciary department. Martin v. Hunter, 1 Wheaton 304-316.

The 2d section of the 3d article contains an exposition of the jurisdiction appertaining to the judicial power of the national government. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and equity arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made or which shall be made under their authority,” &c. Cases arising under the laws of the United States have been defined to be such as grow out of the legislation of Congress, within the scope of their constitutional authority, whether they constitute the right, or privilege, or claim, or protection, or defence of the party, in whole or in part, by whom they are asserted. Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 173, 174.

It has, morever, been holden that Congress cannot vest any portion of the judicial power of the United States except in courts ordained and established by itself; and it therefore follows that Congress are bound to create inferior courts in which to vest all that jurisdiction, which, under the Constitution, is exclusively vested in the United States, and of which the Supreme Court [92]*92cannot take original cognizance. The whole judicial power of the United States should be at all times vested in courts created under its authority. Only in those cases where, previous to the Constitution, State tribunals possessed jurisdiction independent of national authority, can they now constitutionally exercise a concurrent jurisdiction. Martin v. Hunter, 1 Wheaton 304; 3 Peters’ Cond. 559, 561; United States v. Lathrop, 17 Johnson 22; State v. Pike, 15 N. H. 83.

But that exclusive jurisdiction expressly includes the naturalization of foreigners, and hence it might well be doubted whether Congress can rightfully delegate to the State courts jurisdiction over the uniform system of naturalization established by itself, under the exclusive power conferred upon it by the Constitution, especially as such jurisdiction has been holden to involve the exercise of judicial power. We do not, however, propose to discuss the subject farther, as its consideration is not necessary to the decision of the case before us.

The act of Congress, passed April 14,1802, enacts “ That any alien, being a free white person, may be admitted to become a citizen of the States, or any of them, on the following conditions, and not otherwise:

“ First: That he shall have declared, on oath or affirmation, before the Supreme, Superior, District or Circuit Court of some one of the States, or of the territorial districts of the United States, or a Circuit or District Court of the United States, three years at least before his admission, that it was bona fide his intention to become a citizen,” &c.

“ Secondly: That he shall, at the time of his application to be admitted, declare, on oath or affirmation, before some one of the courts aforesaid, that he will support the Constitution of the United States,” &c. 2 U. S. Laws 151.

By the third section of the act, “ every court of record in any individual State, having common law jurisdiction, and a seal and clerk, or prothonotary, shall be considered as a district court within the meaning of this act; and every alien who may have been naturalized in any such court, shall enjoy, from and [93]*93after the passage of this act, the same rights and privileges as if he had been naturalized in a District or Circuit Court of the United States.” 2 U. S. Laws 158.

These are the only provisions of the laws of the United States relating to naturalization, so far as we have examined, with which the act of July 14,1855, entitled “ An act regulating the naturalization and suffrage of naturalized citizens,” can be supposed to come in conflict. That act in substance prohibits any State court, except the Court of Common Pleas, from holding or exercising any jurisdiction in the administration of the naturalization laws. Does such prohibition conflict with the law of Congress, or the provisions of the Constitution of the United States ?

By one clause of the eighth section of the first article of the Constitution, Congress is authorized to “ establish tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court,” and, by the last clause of that article, “ to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested in the government by the Constitution.”

By the Constitution, then, Congress is not only vested with exclusive jurisdiction over the subject of naturalization, but with full power and authority to constitute all necessary tribunals, and make and establish all necessary and proper laws and regulations for the exercise of that jurisdiction.

The power to create all necessary tribunals for the exercise of jurisdiction in naturalization, obviates all occasion for a resort to the State tribunals for that purpose, on the ground of necessary implication.

By the tenth article of the amendments to the Constitution, the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. By the Constitution, Congress is no where authorized to employ, nor are the States any where prohibited from denying the use of their judicial tribunals to carry into execution the naturalization laws of Congress, and therefore the right of such denial is expressly reserved to the States, or the people.

[94]*94The government of the United States can claim no powers which are not granted to it by the Constitution, and the powers actually granted must be such as are expressly given, or given by necessary implication. Martin v. Hunter, 1 Wheaton 310.

Every State is perfectly competent, and has the exclusive right, to prescribe the remedies in its own judicial tribunals, to limit the time as well as the mode of redress, and to deny to them jurisdiction over cases which its own policy and its own institutions either prohibit or discountenance. Prigg v. Pennsylvania, 16 Peters 614.

The clause authorizing Congress to establish a uniform rule of naturalization exists only in the national Constitution, and not in those of the States. The Constitution does not point out any State functionaries, or any State action, as necessary or requisite to carry it into effect.

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Beavins' Petition, 33 N.H. 89 (N.H. 1856).

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14 U.S. 304 (Supreme Court, 1816)