Sporhase v. Nebraska ex rel. Douglas, 458 U.S. 941 (1982), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court decided that a Nebraska statute forbidding commercial exportation of water from Nebraska was unconstitutional in that it violated the dormant commerce clause.
Sporhase v. Nebraska ex rel. Douglas | |
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Argued March 30, 1982 Decided July 2, 1982 | |
Full case name | Sporhase v. Nebraska ex rel. Douglas, Attorney General |
Citations | 458 U.S. 941 (more) 102 S. Ct. 3456; 73 L. Ed. 2d 1254; 1982 U.S. LEXIS 13 |
Holding | |
The Nebraska statute forbidding commercial exportation of water from Nebraska was unconstitutional in that it violated the dormant commerce clause. | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinions | |
Majority | Stevens, joined by Burger, Brennan, White, Marshall, Blackmun, Powell |
Dissent | Rehnquist, joined by O'Connor |
Laws applied | |
U.S. Const. Art. I § 8 |
The boundary between the states of Nebraska and Colorado passed through a farm owned by Sporhase. He drilled a well in Nebraska and used the water to irrigate his land on both sides of the boundary.[citation needed] Under the 11th Amendment, he could not sue the state of Nebraska in a federal district court; consequently his suit had to proceed in the state courts in Nebraska until he petitioned the United States Supreme Court to review it.