6 U.S. (2 Cranch) 64 (1804) (U.S. Supreme Court)
Murray v. The Schooner Charming Betsy is a foundational early Supreme Court decision, authored by Chief Justice John Marshall, that established a now-canonical principle of statutory interpretation in U.S.
Whether the Non-Intercourse Acts should be construed to authorize the seizure and condemnation of a neutral Danish vessel, owned by a person under Danish protection and engaged in neutral trade with a French colony, thereby infringing neutral rights recognized by the law of nations.
An Act of Congress ought never to be construed to violate the law of nations if any other possible construction remains; consequently, a statute will not be read to infringe neutral rights or contravene customary international law unless such a construction is unavoidable based on clear congressional intent.
The relevant Acts of Congress did not authorize the condemnation of the Charming Betsy. Properly construed in light of international law, the statutes did not extend to a neutral Danish vessel under Danish protection engaged in neutral commerce. The condemnation was reversed and the vessel ordered restored.
For law students, Charming Betsy is a bedrock case in statutory interpretation and foreign relations law. It supplies a durable clear-statement rule: courts presume Congress legislates in harmony with international law and will not infer an abrogation of neutral rights or other customary norms absent explicit direction. The canon: (1) advances comity and predictability in international dealings; (2) respects separation of powers by requiring Congress—not courts—to decide whether to breach international norms; and (3) has enduring cross-disciplinary reach, often invoked in antitrust, environmental, and human rights cases when statutes have extraterritorial or foreign-relations effects. It is frequently paired with, but distinct from, the presumption against extraterritoriality and other clear-statement doctrines.