Cherokee Nation v. Georgia

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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. The Court decided that Indian tribes, while retaining some sovereignty, were not foreign nations in the sense required to bring suit in federal court. Justice Marshall emphasized that the Constitution did not envision tribes as fully independent entities.
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 (1831), 30 U.S. (5 Pet.) 1 (1831), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case. The Cherokee Nation asked the Court to stop Georgia from enforcing state laws that took away their rights within the Cherokee territory. However, the Supreme Court declined to rule on the cases's merits, stating that it lacked the original jurisdiction, or authority, to decide in a matter between a U.S. state and the Cherokee Nation. Chief Justice John Marshall explained that the Cherokee Nation was not a "foreign nation" but a "domestic dependent nation," comparing their relationship with the United States to that of a "ward to its guardian."^[1]

This case, part of the Marshall Trilogy, set a precedent for how Native American tribes are treated under federal law and unfolded against the backdrop of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, highlighting the growing tensions over tribal sovereignty.