Zschernig v. Miller

E14280

U.S. Supreme Court case landmark foreign affairs case

Zschernig v. Miller is a 1968 U.S. Supreme Court case that limited state involvement in foreign affairs by striking down an Oregon law affecting inheritance rights of foreign nationals as an intrusion into the federal government's exclusive foreign relations power.

Aliases (1)

Zschernig et al. v. Miller, Administrator ×1

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	U.S. Supreme Court case → landmark foreign affairs case →
areaOfLaw	constitutional law → federal courts → international law →
citation	19 L. Ed. 2d 683 → 389 U.S. 429 → 88 S. Ct. 664 →
concurrenceBy	Chief Justice Earl Warren → Justice Abe Fortas → Justice Byron White → Justice Hugo L. Black → Justice John Marshall Harlan II → Justice Potter Stewart → Justice Thurgood Marshall → Justice William J. Brennan Jr. →
constitutionalProvision	Article I of the U.S. Constitution → Article II of the U.S. Constitution → Supremacy Clause →
country	United States →
court	Supreme Court of the United States →
decisionDate	1968-01-15 →
effect	established that state laws cannot have more than incidental or indirect effect on foreign relations → restricted state involvement in foreign affairs →
factPattern	Oregon law conditioned inheritance by nonresident aliens on reciprocity and proof of rights in their home country →
fullName	Zschernig et al. v. Miller, Administrator →
holding	Oregon probate statute was unconstitutional as an intrusion into the federal government’s exclusive foreign relations power → state law was invalid under the Foreign Affairs power even without a conflicting federal statute or treaty →
jurisdiction	federal question jurisdiction →
keyDoctrine	dormant foreign affairs preemption → limits on state regulation with more than incidental effect on foreign relations →
legalIssue	constitutionality of state law affecting foreign nationals’ inheritance → scope of federal government’s exclusive power over foreign relations →
legalSubject	conflict of laws → federal preemption → foreign affairs power → inheritance rights →
lowerCourt	Supreme Court of Oregon →
lowerCourtDisposition	judgment of the Supreme Court of Oregon reversed →
majorityOpinionBy	Justice William O. Douglas →
parties	foreign heirs who were residents of East Germany →
relatedCase	American Insurance Association v. Garamendi → Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council →
stateLawChallenged	Oregon →
statuteInvolved	Oregon Revised Statutes § 111.070 (1963) (formerly § 111.070, Oregon Laws) →
subjectMatter	escheat of property to the state when foreign heirs could not meet statutory conditions →
subsequentCitation	frequently cited in cases limiting state action in foreign affairs →
term	1967 Term →
vote	9-0 →

Referenced by (2)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Zschernig v. Miller ("Zschernig et al. v. Miller, Administrator") →	fullName
Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council →	relatedCase