Source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/357/17
Timestamp: 2020-01-24 10:35:31
Document Index: 756573516

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 258', '§ 257', '§ 203', '§ 1346', '§ 257', '§ 171', '§ 594']

UNITED STATES of America, Petitioner, v. C. M. DOW. | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute
357 U.S. 17 (78 S.Ct. 1039, 2 L.Ed.2d 1109)
Argued: March 5, 1958.
The issue in this case arises out of a condemnation proceeding in which the United States acquired an easement pursuant to its power of eminent domain. The principal question presented is whether the claim to 'just compensation' vested in the owners of the land at the time the United States entered into possession of the easement pursuant to court order in 1943 or whether such claim vested in the respondent, Dow, who acquired the land in 1945, at the time the United States filed a declaration of taking in 1946, under the Declaration of Taking Act of February 26, 1931, 46 Stat. 1421, 40 U.S.C. 258a—258e, 40 U.S.C.A. §§ 258a—258e.
In March 1943 the United States instituted a condemnation proceeding in the District Court for the Southern District of Texas to acquire a right-of-way for a pipe line over certain lands in Harris County, Texas, owned by the estate and heirs of John F. Garrett and James Bute. Among the lands condemned was Parcel 1, a narrow strip of some 2.7 acres out of a 617-acre tract, the property involved in the present suit. The Government proceeded under various statutes, including the Act of August 1, 1888, 25 Stat. 357, 40 U.S.C. 257, 40 U.S.C.A. § 257, and Title II of the Second War Powers Act of March 27, 1942, 56 Stat. 176, 177. As requested in the petition, the District Court ordered the United States into the 'immediate possession' of this strip. Within the next ten days the United States entered into physical possession and began laying the pipe line through the tract. The line was completed in 1943 and has been in continuous use since that time.
After a lengthy unexplained delay in the proceedings, the Government in May 1955 filed a motion for summary judgment against Dow. In March 1956 the District Court granted this motion and dismissed Dow as a party. The District Court found as a fact that Dow's grantors had intended to convey to him 'all their right, title and interest in the said Parcel No. 1 or in the award to be made for the same.' It then went on to rule that under the Assignment of Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. 203, 31 U.S.C.A. § 203, this was a prohibited assignment of a claim against the United States, and that the deed was therefore ineffective to convey to Dow the compensation award. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that no assignment was involved because no claim to compensation against the United States 'arose and vested' until the filing of the declaration of taking in 1946, and that, because Dow by that time had become owner of the land, he was entitled to the award. 238 F.2d 898. Because the question presented bears importantly on rights resulting from federal condemnation proceedings, we granted the Government's petition for certiorari. 353 U.S. 972, 77 S.Ct. 1057, 1 L.Ed.2d 1135.
Broadly speaking, the United States may take property pursuant to its power of eminent domain in one of two ways: it can enter into physical possession of property without authority of a court order; or it can institute condemnation proceedings under various Acts of Congress providing authority for such takings. Under the first method—physical seizure—no condemnation proceedings are instituted, and the property owner is provided a remedy under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. 1346(a)(2) and 1491, 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1346(a)(2), 1491, to recover just compensation. See Hurley v. Kincaid, 285 U.S. 95, 104, 52 S.Ct. 267, 269, 76 L.Ed. 637. Under the second procedure the Government may either employ statutes which require it to pay over the judicially determined compensation before it can enter upon the land, Act of August 1, 1888, 25 Stat. 357, 40 U.S.C. 257, 40 U.S.C.A. § 257; Act of August 18, 1890, 26 Stat. 316, 50 U.S.C. 171, 50 U.S.C.A. § 171,1 or proceed under other statutes which enable it to take immediate possession upon order of court before the amount of just compensation has been ascertained. Act of July 18, 1918, 40 Stat. 904, 911, 33 U.S.C. 594, 33 U.S.C.A. § 594; Title II of the Second War Powers Act of March 27, 1942, 56 Stat. 176, 177 (employed by the Government in the present case).
NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. ANTHONY PALAZZOLO, PETITIONER v. RHODE ISLAND et al.