In 1985, the
U.S. Supreme Court ruled in
United States v. Maine that Long Island is integrally related to the mainland enough that
Long Island Sound and the western part of
Block Island Sound constitute a "juridical bay" for the purpose of determining maritime state boundaries. In the popular media, this has been often misinterpreted as a ruling that Long Island is legally not an island. The
United States Board on Geographic Names still considers Long Island an island, because it is surrounded by water.