Statue of Liberty a Legal New Yorker, Supreme Court Says
The Supreme Court today refused to strip the Statue of Liberty of its status as a New Yorker.
The court, without comment, turned away an attempt by a New Jersey congressman and mayor to claim jurisdiction over the famous landmark for their state.
The unsuccessful appeal challenged New York’s right to keep the statue, the island on which it stands and a neighboring island.
Rep. Frank J. Guarini (D-N.J.) and Mayor Gerald McCann of Jersey City sued New York, contending that the Empire State lacks legitimate sovereignty over Liberty and Ellis islands because they are located in the New Jersey half of the Hudson River. The federally owned islands lie 2,000 feet off the coast of Jersey City and about two miles from New York City.
New Jersey Judge Burrell Ives Humphreys ruled in 1986 that New York properly has exercised jurisdiction over the island under a compact signed in 1833.
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