Constitutional Opinion No. 2026-0757
Case Information
- Content Scored
- Little v. Barreme (The Flying Fish), 6 U.S. 170 (1804)
- Source
- Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Reports Vol. 6 (2 Cranch)
- Author
- Chief Justice John Marshall (opinion of the Court)
- Publication Date
- 1804-02-01
- Content Type
- Judicial Opinion / Legal-Normative Text
- Opinion Issued
- 2026-07-20
- AFCS Version
- 1.0
Holding
This is the limits-side companion to the Quasi-War case scored at Opinion 2026-0755, fixing the boundary the other affirmed: if Congress defines the war, the executive may not exceed the definition. Congress's non-intercourse act of February 1799 authorized seizing vessels sailing TO French ports; the President's instructions directed seizing vessels sailing TO OR FROM. The Flying Fish was taken on a voyage FROM a French port — unauthorized by the statute. Marshall held the obeying officer liable in damages: "the instructions cannot change the nature of the transaction, nor legalize an act which, without those instructions, would have been a plain trespass." That is the structural principle of a limited executive — presidential orders cannot make lawful what a statute left unlawful (Article XVII); the rule of law in its hardest form — no officer, however bound to obedience, is above the law, and obeying an unlawful order is no immunity (Article XVIII); a limit on Washington's own power imposed on its own agent (Article XII); and property vindicated against unlawful government seizure (Article IX). The Standard credits rather than debits the enforcement cost Marshall acknowledged — the answer to a too-narrow statute is a new law from Congress, not a free hand for the President. Marshall's candor — recording that his "first bias" favored excusing military obedience and that he "receded" from it — is the model of a judge bound by law over instinct. No countervailing article. Scored as Legal/Normative text (85/15). Tier 1 nets to 81; the result is 83 — America First, one point above Bas v. Tingy. Principle scored, not result.
It is the judgment of this Court that Opinion No. 2026-0757 is hereby entered into the record, in accordance with the America First Constitutional Standard. The score stands. The reasoning is published. The record is public.