New Jersey may unilaterally withdraw from the New York-New Jersey Waterfront Commission Compact

The Waterfront Commission Compact
established a bi-state agency known as the Waterfront Commission of New
York Harbor New York and New Jersey in 1953, consistent with the Compact Clause of the
Constitution, pursuant to which the States delegated their sovereign
authority to conduct regulatory and law-enforcement activities at the Port. 

The
Compact did not address each State’s power to withdraw from the Compact. 

In 2018, New Jersey sought to unilaterally withdraw from the Compact, over New York’s opposition. New
York filed a bill of
complaint in the Supreme Court of the United States. 

The parties then filed cross-motions for judgment
on the pleadings, with the United States supporting New Jersey as amicus
curiae.

Held:
The Supreme Court ruled New Jersey may unilaterally withdraw from the Waterfront
Commission Compact notwithstanding New York’s opposition.

Click HERE to access the Supreme Court’s
decision and the Syllabus of the ruling. 

N.B. The Syllabus is not part of
the opinion of the Court. It is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions
for the convenience of the reader.