PINK, UNITED STATES v. 315 U.S. 203 (1942)

inPink, the Supreme Court reaffirmed a doctrine articulated five years earlier in united states v. belmont (1937): that the President has exclusive constitutional authority to recognize foreign governments and to take all steps necessary to effect such recognition. In Belmont, the Court recognized the federal government's standing to sue to enforce an executive agreement known as the "Litvinov Agreement." As part of the process of recognition of the Soviet Union by the United States in 1933, this agreement assigned to the United States nationalized Russian assets located within the United States.

inPink, the Court was again confronted with the controversial Litvinov Assignment. In this case, while recognizing the federal government's rights under the Litvinov Assignment as required by Belmont, the New York courts rejected the government's claims of ownership of the assets in question, contending that to enforce the assignment would violate New York public policy against the confiscation of private property. The Supreme Court reversed, 5–2, emphasizing that an executive agreement, like a treaty, is part of the "supreme law of the land" that no state may frustrate without interfering unconstitutionally with the federal government's exclusive competence in respect of foreign affairs. In so doing, the Court reasserted the supremacy of an executive agreement over all inconsistent state law or policy.

Burns H. Weston
(1986)

Bibliography

Cardozo, Michael H. 1962 The Authority in Internal Law of International Treaties: The Pink Case. Syracuse Law Review 13:544–553.

Forkosch, Morris D. 1975 The Constitution and International Relations. California Western International Law Journal 5:219, 246–249.

Henkin, Louis 1972 Foreign Affairs and the Constitution. Mineola, N.Y.: Foundation Press.

Leary, M.A. 1979 International Executive Agreements: A Guide to the Legal Issues and Research Sources. Law Library Journal 72:1–11.