Today in Supreme Court History: May 3, 1802

5/3/1802: Washington D.C. incorporated as the capital of the United States. Article I, Section 8 empowers Congress to "To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States."

Comments

[larryseltzer]

The "Organic Act of 1801" which went into effect OTD in 1802: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=002/llsl002.db&recNum=140

[Dan Schiavetta]

"Seat of government" became a large city and, uniquely in the world, one without representation.

[Dr. Ed 2]

" by Cession of particular States"

That should be the representation. Give it back to Maryland.

[David Nieporent]

Maryland does not want it. The residents of DC do not want that. So, um, no sale.

[Darth Chocolate]

Yep, it's a seat. And what do we put in seats?

Butts. Nothing but butts.

[apedad]

One reason for the US's success, I think, is because of the separation of political and economic power.

We mainly have NY which has considerable economic and global power, as well as other economic centers: Chicago, LA, Dallas, etc.

In contrast look at Europe and other areas with their consolidated political and economic centers: London, Paris, Rome, Moscow, Tokyo.

Germany is the outlier (Berlin and Frankfurt).

China is a little different with Beijing being the obvious center of power, but perhaps with some mitigation from Taiwan and Hong Kong (although we see how that's currently going).

Diffusion of power is always a good thing for the people.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Berlin wasn't a unified city until 32 years ago.

And don't forget that the wealthiest counties in the US surround DC, not any of the other cities you mentioned.

[apedad]

The counties just measure individual wealth and (obviously) can't even be in the same sentence with NY's stock and money markets, credit rating agencies (e.g. S&P Global Ratings [S&P], Moody's, and Fitch Group), and banks (JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup).

[Dr. Ed 2]

Things will get really interesting really fast if the out-of-control ChiCom rocket crashes on US soil....

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/chinas-uncontrolled-descent-20-tonne-24028208

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Shelley v. Kraemer was decided on May 3, 1948, but the editorial standards and right-wing slant of this blog have generated a different 'event in Supreme Court history' . . . to the extent the event described here by Profs. Barnett and Blackman can be construed as an element of Supreme Court history.

Carry on, clingers.