Lee, Book Review of Arlyck on The Nation at Sea: The Federal Courts and American Sovereignty, 1789-1825

THomas H. Lee, Fordham University School of Law, has published The Maritime Origins of Judicial Review: A review of Kevin Arlyck, “The Nation at Sea: The Federal Courts and American Sovereignty, 1789-1825” in LawFare on Aug. 21, 2026. Also forthcoming in the Fordham Law Review. Here is the abstract.

Professor Lee reviews Georgetown Law Professor Kevin Arylck's book, The Nation at Sea: The Federal Courts and American Sovereignty, 1789-1825 (Cambridge Univ. Press 2025) which shows "how federal courts used the flowing canvas of oceanic conflict during the nation’s first decades to gain legitimacy with the political branches and anchor the United States’ status as a co-equal sovereign in the eyes of European powers." Lee concludes by asking what "rule of law" means when the early federal courts rejected common law for the civil-law jurisprudence of the English High Court of Admiralty and shaped decisions to conform to the political needs of the young nation while balking from deciding the most sensitive legal questions such as slavery.

Download the review from SSRN at the link.