Date decided 1795 | ||
Full case name The United States v. Richard Peters, District Judge Citations 3 U.S. 121 (more)1 L. Ed. 535; 1795 U.S. LEXIS 330; 3 Dall. 121 Majority Rutledge, joined by unanimous Similar Martin v Hunter's Lessee, Fletcher v Peck, Chisholm v Georgia, Cohens v Virginia, Cooper v Aaron |
United States v. Peters, 3 U.S. 121 (1795), was a United States Supreme Court case determining that the federal district court has no jurisdiction over a foreign privateer where the intended captured ship was not within the jurisdiction of the court. The Supreme Court may prohibit the district court from proceeding in such a matter. In the decision the court held:
The district court has no jurisdiction of a libel for damages, against a privateer, commissioned by a foreign belligerent power, for the capture of an American vessel as prizeāthe captured vessel not being within the jurisdiction.
The supreme court will grant a writ of prohibition to a district judge, when he is proceeding in a cause of which the district court has no jurisdiction.