The Constitution At Sea

Time was when it was assumed that the United States Constitution, like a deity of old, ruled only in its territory and did not apply outside the United States. Since 1957 we know that the Constitution applies wherever the United States exercises authority. If, as the Supreme Court then held, the Constitution governs the acts of the United States in the territory of a foreign state, where the Constitution might be deemed a foreign "intruder" on local sovereignty, it would seem to apply also — indeed a fortiori — to acts of the United States on the high seas, where there is no local sovereign. And, in fact, that is established in United States constitutional jurisprudence today. Judge Gignoux contributed to that jurisprudence when he ruled that search and seizure of a foreign vessel on the high seas was governed by the fourth amendment.