importation
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 48 U.S. 283 - George Smith v. William Turner Health-Commissioner of the Port of New York James Norris · 1849Most cited · 410 citing opinions
slaves, because free persons cannot be said to be imported.'
How the Supreme Court has restated “importation”
Each Supreme Court definition of “importation,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “importation”
Court decisions citing the 7 opinions that defined “importation” — 863 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 7 definitions, chronological · 1809–1932
- ORIGINAL
The duties did not accrue in the fiscal sense of the term, until the vessel arrived at the port of entry... The distinction taken by the counsel for the defendants in error, between a district and a port of entry, is correct.
when duty attaches; port of entry not district
The opinion of the Court to be, that the vessel came at her peril; that she was bound to get information; but was negligent in not calling at Amelia Island, and in not inquiring of the vessel which she spoke off the port of Savannah.
non-intercourse — vessel comes at her peril
To constitute an importation so as to attach the right to duties, it is necessary not only that there should be an arrival within the limits of the United States, and of a collection district but also within the limits of some port of entry.
requires arrival at port of entry
Where goods are brought by superior force, or by inevitable necessity, into the United States, they are not deemed to be so imported, in the sense of the law, as necessarily to attach the right to duties. If, however, such goods are afterwards sold or consumed in the country, or incorporated into the general mass of its property, they become retro-actively liable to the payment of duties.
force or necessity does not attach duties
- 1882·107 U.S. 59 - People of the State of New York v. Compagnie Generale Transatlantique[p12]· cited 82×
the different conditions of this race as regards freedom and slavery.
Sections 3061 and 3062 of the Revised Statutes are aimed at importation from without the United States, and not at transportation within. Section 26, title 2, of the National Prohibition Act, is aimed at transportation within, and not at importation from without.
vs. transportation