Era:
Date Created:
Place Created: Los Angeles County, California
Year Created: 1889
Historical Theme:
Description: Botiller v. Dominguez, 130 U.S. 238 (1889), was a U.S. Supreme Court case that addressed the validity of Spanish and Mexican land grants in California following the Mexican-American War. Dominga Dominguez sued to recover Rancho Las Virgenes, based on an 1834 Mexican land grant, but the grant had never been presented to the Board of Land Commissioners as required by the California Land Act of 1851. The Court ruled that any such land grant had to be submitted for confirmation within the period specified by Congress, and failure to do so invalidated the claim, regardless of its origin. The decision affirmed that federal law, including congressional statutes, takes precedence over international treaties like the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in determining property rights under U.S. jurisdiction.
Categories of Documents:
Syllabus
U.S. Supreme Court
Botiller v. Dominguez, 130 U.S. 238 (1889)
Botiller v. Dominguez
No. 1370
Submitted January 7, 1889
Decided April 1, 1889
130 U.S. 238
ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT
OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Syllabus
If an act of Congress is in conflict with a treaty of the United States with a foreign power, this Court is bound to follow the statutory enactments of its own government.
No title to land in California dependent upon Spanish or Mexican grants can be of any validity which has not been submitted to, and confirmed by, the board provided for that purpose under the Act of March 3, 1851, 9 Stat. 631, or, if rejected by that board, confirmed by the district court or by the Supreme Court of the United States.
Web Address:
Los Angeles County, California