Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/290/13/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 04:17:55+00:00

Document:
1. The obligation of the United States to pay just compensation for private property taken under its power of eminent domain rest upon the Fifth Amendment, independent of statute or express promise. P. 290 U. S. 16.
2. A promise to pay is implied because the duty is imposed by the Amendment. Id.
3. In a suit under the Tucker Act to recover just compensation for property taken by the Government, there may be claimed and allowed, in the form of interest, such addition to the value of the property at the time of the taking as will produce the full equivalent of that value paid contemporaneously with the taking. P. 290 U. S. 16.
4. This is not a claim for interest within the meaning of Jud.Code § 177. P. 290 U. S. 17.
5. United States v. North American Co., 253 U. S. 330, distinguished. P. 290 U. S. 18.
Certiorari, 289 U.S. 719, to review a judgment of the Circuit Court of Appeals reversing the District Court as respects allowance of interest in a suit for just compensation brought under the Tucker Act.
On appeal by the government, the Circuit Court of Appeals held that interest was not recoverable. 63 F.2d 326. This Court granted certiorari. 289 U.S. 719.
The only question before us is as to the item of interest. The government contemplated the flowage of the lands, that damage would result therefrom, and that compensation would be payable. A servitude was created by reason of intermittent overflows which impaired the use of the lands for agricultural purposes. 45 F.2d p. 37; 63 F.2d p. 327. There was thus a partial taking of the lands for which the government was bound to make just compensation under the Fifth Amendment. United States v. Cress, 243 U. S. 316, 243 U. S. 327-329; United States v. Lynah, 188 U. S. 445, 188 U. S. 470; Hurley v. Kincaid, 285 U. S. 95, 285 U. S. 104. The Circuit Court of Appeals, distinguishing the present suits from condemnation proceedings instituted by the government, held that the suits were founded upon an implied contract, and hence that interest could not be allowed, citing United States v. North American Transportation & Trading Co., 253 U. S. 330.
This ruling cannot be sustained. The suits were based on the right to recover just compensation for property taken by the United States for public use in the exercise of its power of eminent domain. That right was guaranteed by the Constitution. The fact that condemnation proceedings were not instituted and that the right was asserted in suits by the owners did not change the essential nature of the claim. The form of the remedy did not qualify the right. It rested upon the Fifth Amendment. Statutory recognition was not necessary. A promise to pay was not necessary. Such a promise was implied because of the duty to pay imposed by the amendment. The suits were thus founded upon the Constitution of the United States. 28 U.S.C. § 41(20).
is comprehensive, and includes all elements, "and no specific command to include interest is necessary when interest or its equivalent is a part of such compensation." The owner is not limited to the value of the property at the time of the taking; "he is entitled to such addition as will produce the full equivalent of that value paid contemporaneously with the taking." Interest at a proper rate "is a good measure by which to ascertain the amount so to be added." Seaboard Air Line R. Co. v. United States, 261 U. S. 299, 261 U. S. 306. That suit was brought by the owner under § 10 of the Lever Act (40 Stat. 279), which, in authorizing the President to requisition property for public use and to pay just compensation, said nothing as to interest. But the Court held that the right to just compensation could not be taken away by statute or be qualified by the omission of a provision for interest where such an allowance was appropriate in order to make the compensation adequate. See also United States v. Rogers, 255 U. S. 163, 255 U. S. 169.
265 U. S. 106, 265 U. S. 123; Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co. v. United States, 274 U. S. 215.
The case of United States v. North American Transp. & Trad. Co., supra, cannot be regarded as establishing a different rule for the instant case. See Seaboard Air Line R. Co. v. United States, supra, p. 261 U. S. 305; Phelps v. United States, supra, pp. 274 U. S. 343-344. The North American case rested upon its special facts. There, the original taking was tortious, and created no liability on the part of the government. Subsequent action was held to create a liability which rested upon an implied contract. The Court said that the suit was not founded upon the Fifth Amendment. 253 U.S. pp. 253 U. S. 334-335. Suits brought to enforce the constitutional right to just compensation are governed by the later decisions which are directly in point.

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