48 U.S.C. § 1471
Section 1471 · 1471 to 1479. Repealed. Pub. L. 98213, 16(w)(ee), Dec. 8, 1983, 97 Stat. 1463
Applied in 27 court decisions — leading case Alton v. Alton (1953)
Most recently applied in City of Enid v. Public Employees Relations Board (March 2006)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Section 1471, act July 30, 1886, ch. 818, 1, 24 Stat. 170, prohibited legislatures of Territories of the United States from passing local or special laws in certain enumerated cases. Section 1472, acts July 30, 1886, ch. 818, 4, 24 Stat. 171; Aug. 22, 1911, ch. 43, 37 Stat. 33, related to limitations on indebtedness of political or municipal corporations and county or other subdivisions in any Territory. Section 1473, act July 30, 1886, ch. 818, 3, 24 Stat. 171, limited authority of Territorial legislature to contract any debt by or on behalf of such Territory to certain enumerated cases. Section 1474, act July 19, 1888, ch. 679, 2, 25 Stat. 336, related to creation by Territorial legislatures of new counties and location of county seats. Section 1475, act July 30, 1886, ch. 818, 2, 24 Stat. 171, prohibited Territorial legislature or political subdivision thereof from subscribing to capital stock of, or loaning its credit to, any incorporated company or association. Section 1476, act Mar. 4, 1898, ch. 35, 30 Stat. 252, authorized issuance of bonds by chartered municipal corporations for sanitary and health purposes, free of certain debt limitations. Section 1477, act June 6, 1900, ch. 820, 31 Stat. 683, authorized issuance of bonds by chartered municipal corporations for erection of city buildings, free of certain debt limitations. Section 1478, act July 30, 1886, ch. 818, 6, 24 Stat. 171, prohibited construction of any provision to abridge power of Congress from annulling any law of a Territorial legislature, or modifying any existing law of Congress requiring that laws of any Territory be submitted to Congress. Section 1479, act July 30, 1886, ch. 818, 7, 24 Stat. 171, declared null and void any acts passed by any Territorial legislature after July 30, 1886, in conflict with specific sections of this title.