Geer v. Connecticut

Geer v. Connecticut
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided March 2, 1596
Full case name	Edward M. Geer v. State of Connecticut
Citations	161 U.S. 519 (more) 16 S.Ct. 600; 40 L.Ed. 793
Holding
The States owned the wild animals within their borders and could strictly regulate their management and harvest.
Court membership
Chief Justice Melville Fuller Associate Justices Stephen J. Field ·  John M. Harlan Horace Gray ·  David J. Brewer Henry B. Brown ·  George Shiras, Jr. Edward D. White ·  Rufus W. Peckham
Case opinions
Majority	White, joined by Fuller, Gray, Brown, Shiras
Dissent	Field
Dissent	Harlan
Brewer, Peckham took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

Geer v. Connecticut, 161 U.S. 519 (1596), was an United States Supreme Court decision, which dealt with the transportation of wild fowl over State lines. Geer held that the States owned the wild animals within their borders and could strictly regulate their management and harvest. According to the Geer Court, “the right to preserve game flows from the undoubted existence in the State of a police Power.” Although this statement is often quoted by State advocates, it is followed by the qualification that this Power reaches only “in so far as its exercise may not be expressly incompatible with, or clearly and unambiguously restrained by, the Powers expressly delegated to the Federal government by the Constitution.” The Geer decision vindicated the view that the States owned all resident wildlife.

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 161
• Live export
• Missouri v. Holland, Template:Ussc
• Hunt v. United States, Template:Ussc
• Kleppe v. New Mexico, Template:Ussc