811.114/1003
The Attorney General ( Daugherty ) to the Secretary of State
Sir: Acknowledgment is made of the receipt of your letter of September 22, 1922,9 wherein you refer to the conferences recently had between representatives of your Department and the Department of Justice, with regard to the seizure of foreign ships outside the three-mile limit of the United States.
I note your letter indicates that these seizures are made in the contemplation of this Department for violation of the prohibition laws of this country. I beg to correct such a statement, and direct your attention to the fact, that, the Department of Justice has never authorized a seizure outside of the three-mile limit for violation of the prohibition laws.
We are not unmindful of the fact that the validity of Section 2867 of the Revised Statutes, and succeeding so-called “hovering” laws have been questioned by writers on international law, and are not wholly consistent with views expressed formerly by our State Department, but Church vs. Hubbart 10 has never been overruled. The “hovering” Statutes have never been, by our Congress or our Courts repealed, and the Department of Justice feels bound by those Statutes until the law is clearly settled otherwise.
I thank you for enclosing the letter of the State Department to the Honorable Thomas Sterling, United States Senate.
This Department makes the case of each seizure of a vessel because of violation of the “hovering” Statutes, if such vessel is foreign owned, the subject of a special investigation and consideration.
We will be very glad to furnish your Department with a memorandum on each of these cases if you so desire, clearly setting forth the facts of the case that lead to the judgment that the vessel has rendered herself forfeitable under Section 2867 of the Revised Statutes.
Very truly yours,
Assistant Attorney General