Green v. Watkins was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that an individual's right to sue for damages is not limited by state boundaries. The plaintiff, Green, had been injured while working on a vessel owned by Watkins and registered in Maryland. Green sued for damages in Virginia but his claim was dismissed because he did not reside there at the time of injury or when he filed suit. The Supreme Court reversed this decision and found that individuals have a right to bring suit regardless of their residence status at the time they file their complaint or suffer harm as long as it is within US jurisdiction. This ruling established precedent allowing citizens from any state to seek redress through federal courts if necessary without having to travel back home first before filing suit against another party residing outside their own state borders.

In Green v. Watkins, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a state court had jurisdiction over an action brought by a citizen of another state against someone who lived in the same state as the court. The majority held that it did not have such jurisdiction because there was no diversity of citizenship between the parties and therefore no basis for federal question jurisdiction. Justice Johnson dissented from this opinion, arguing that while he agreed with much of what his colleagues said about diversity of citizenship being necessary for federal question jurisdiction, he believed that Congress had given states authority to hear cases involving citizens from other states when those cases involved matters arising under their own laws or regulations. He argued further that since this case arose out of a dispute concerning property located within Virginia's borders and subject to its laws, it should be heard by Virginia courts regardless if both parties were citizens thereof or not.