Coastal Services Center

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For Further Consideration

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Suggested Case Studies

In the 1842 case of Martin v. Lessee of Waddell, a dispute arising from a claim of a private right to a shellfish bed, the U.S. Supreme Court discussed the descent of the Public Trust Doctrine from pre-Magna Carta England through the American Revolution. (U.S. Reports, volume 41, page 367)

Further Reading

An enlightening discussion of the historical, anthropological, and ecological forces which shaped the evolution of the Public Trust Doctrine is provided in McCay, Bonnie J., Oyster Wars and the Public Trust: Property, Law and Ecology in New Jersey History, The University of Arizona Press, Tucson (1998).