Task: sc_respondent

What follows is an opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States. Your task is to identify the respondent of the case. The respondent is the party being sued or tried and is also known as the appellee. Characterize the respondent as the Court's opinion identifies them.

Identify the respondent by the label given to the party in the opinion or judgment of the Court except where the Reports title a party as the "United States" or as a named state. Textual identification of parties is typically provided prior to Part I of the Court's opinion. The official syllabus, the summary that appears on the title page of the case, may be consulted as well. In describing the parties, the Court employs terminology that places them in the context of the specific lawsuit in which they are involved. For example, "employer" rather than "business" in a suit by an employee; as a "minority," "female," or "minority female" employee rather than "employee" in a suit alleging discrimination by an employer.

Also note that the Court's characterization of the parties applies whether the respondent is actually single entitiy or whether many other persons or legal entities have associated themselves with the lawsuit. That is, the presence of the phrase, et al., following the name of a party does not preclude the Court from characterizing that party as though it were a single entity. Thus, identify a single respondent, regardless of how many legal entities were actually involved. If a state (or one of its subdivisions) is a party, note only that a state is a party, not the state's name.

Justice Marshall
delivered the opinion of the Court.
The issue in this case is whether the State of West Virginia is liable for prejudgment interest on a debt arising from a contractual obligation to reimburse the United States for services rendered by the Army Corps of Engineers.
r-H
On February 26, 1972, heavy rains and resulting floods caused the collapse of a coal waste dam on Buffalo Creek in southwestern West Virginia. The “Buffalo Creek disaster” caused over 100 deaths and millions of dollars of property damage and left thousands homeless. In August of that year, a series of storms caused widespread flooding and mudslides in the same region of the State. Although there was no additional loss of life, the “Gilbert Creek disaster” caused substantial property damage.
The President declared both events “major disasters,” qualifying the affected areas for federal relief under the Disaster Relief Act of 1970, Pub. L. 91-606, 84 Stat. 1744, 42 U. S. C. §4401 (1970 ed.) (DRA or Act), repealed Pub. L. 93-288, 88 Stat. 164. Section 226(a) of the Act authorized the Director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness to provide temporary housing, typically mobile homes, for persons displaced by the disaster. That section also governed site preparation for the mobile homes. It provided:
“Any mobile home or readily fabricated dwelling shall be placed on a site complete with utilities provided by State or local government, or by the owner or occupant of the site who was displaced by the major disaster, without charge to the United States. However, the Director may elect to provide other more economical and accessible sites at Federal expense when he determines such action to be in the public interest.” 42 U. S. C. §4436 (1970 ed.).
In the aftermath of both disasters, the State found itself unable to prepare sites for the mobile homes. It asked the Army Corps of Engineers to do so, and the Corps agreed. In late 1972 and early 1973, the Corps billed the State for its site preparation services. The State acknowledged the bills, but, despite several requests, failed to make any payment. After delaying at the State’s request, the United States brought suit against West Virginia in 1978, seeking to recover $4.2 million in site preparation costs plus prejudgment interest. West Virginia denied liability for the debt, claiming that the state official who had entered into the agreement had acted without authority. The District Court rejected this claim and found that the State was contractually obligated to the Corps for site preparation services. Civ. Action No. 78-2049 (SD W. Va., Sept. 27, 1982). The United States then moved for an order of prejudgment interest on the outstanding debt. The District Court denied the motion. It held that the appropriate analysis required an examination of the congressional purpose underlying the DRA and the relative equities between the parties. After completing that analysis, the District Court concluded that the State should not be liable for prejudgment interest. Civ. Action No. R-78-2049 (SD W. Va., Jan. 28, 1983).
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s holding that the State was contractually obligated on the debt, but reversed the determination that the State was not liable for prejudgment interest. 764 F. 2d 1028 (1985). It held that the question was governed by federal law, under which prejudgment interest was allowable as a matter of right in a breach-of-contract action where the amount due was liquidated, ascertained, or agreed to. Id., at 1030-1031. The Court of Appeals rejected the District Court’s conclusion that the determination whether prejudgment interest was owing depended on a balancing of equities, but held that, even if it were to apply the balancing test, the United States would prevail. Id., at 1032-1033. It remanded the case to the District Court to enter an award of prejudgment interest. Wé granted certiorari, limited to the question whether West Virginia was properly required to pay prejudgmént interest. 475. U. S. 1009 (1986). We affirm.
II
“[T]he rule governing the interest to be recovered as damages for delayed payment of a contractual obligation to the United States is not controlled by state statute or local common law. In the absence of an applicable federal statute, it is for the federal courts to determine, according to their own criteria, the appropriate measure of damage, expressed in terms of interest, for nonpayment of the amount found to be due.” Royal Indemnity Co. v. United States, 313 U. S. 289, 296 (1941); see also Clearfield Trust Co. v. United States, 318 U. S. 363, 366-367 (1943). While there are instances in which state law may be adopted as the federal rule of decision, see United States v. Yazell, 382 U. S. 341 (1966), this case presents no compelling reason for doing so. A single nationwide rule would be preferable to one turning on state law, and the incorporation of state law would not give due regard to the federal interest in maintaining the apportionment of responsibility Congress devised in the DRA. Finally, application of a federal rule would not “disrupt commercial relationships predicated on state law,” United States v. Kimbell Foods, Inc., 440 U. S. 715, 729 (1979) (footnote omitted), since state law would not of its own force govern contracts between a State and the Federal Government.
Given that state law may neither govern of its own force nor be adopted as the federal rule of decision, it remains for us to apply the federal rule. In Board of Comm’rs of Jackson County v. United States, 308 U. S. 343 (1939), this Court addressed the issue. There, the Court considered whether the political subdivision of a State should be liable to the United States for prejudgment interest on a tax refund owed to a Native American on whose behalf the Federal Government had brought suit. The Court held that prejudgment interest would not be assessed. While the Court noted that certain defenses asserted by States were ineffective as against the Federal Government because of the historic immunity of the sovereign from those defenses, id., at 351, it determined that interest, which lacked comparable historical roots, could not simply be required with respect to all claims by the United States against a State or its political subdivision. It therefore held that, before applying the usual rule regarding prejudgment interest as against a private party to a State, a federal court should consider the interests of the two governments involved. Id., at 350. Noting that aggrieved taxpayers who were not Native Americans were not, under state law, entitled to interest on tax refunds, id., at 349, the Court concluded that individuals whose rights to a state tax refund arose under federal law should not be put in a better position than taxpayers whose rights arose under state law. Id., at 352. The Court further reasoned that it would be inequitable to award interest because the United States had not moved for eight years to collect the money owed by the county. Ibid.
Application of this analysis to the present case indicates that prejudgment interest should be required. No state policy compels any deviation from the longstanding rule that parties owing debts to the Federal Government must pay prejudgment interest where the underlying claim is a contractual obligation to pay money. Royal Indemnity Co. v. United States, supra, at 295-297. Moreover, federal policy plainly calls for an award of interest. The purpose of the DRA was not to relieve States of the entire burden of disaster relief, but to apportion that responsibility between the State and Federal Governments. See, e. g., §§ 101(a)(2) and (b) (Act was intended “to assist the efforts of the affected States,” and to provide “an orderly and continuing means of assistance by the Federal Government to State and local governments”); § 102(1) (Governor of any State in which a disaster occurs must certify the need for federal disaster assistance and “giv[e] assurance of the expenditure of a reasonable amount of the funds of such State, its local governments, or other agencies for alleviating the damage . . . resulting from such catastrophe”). Section 226(a) of the DRA reflects the statute’s allocative intent; it explicitly states that the Federal Government is not to bear the costs of site preparation for temporary housing for disaster victims. Prejudgment interest is an element of complete compensation, see, e. g., General Motors Corp. v. Devex Corp., 461 U. S. 648, 655-656, and n. 10 (1983); fully repaying the Federal Government for any costs of site preparation will further the distribution of the burdens of disaster relief that Congress intended.
This federal interest in complete compensation is likely to be present in any ordinary commercial contractual arrangement between a State and the Federal Government. In such a situation, it is also difficult to imagine a state interest that would justify relieving the State of its obligation to compensate the Federal Government fully for its efforts. Here, the State asserts none, except its understandable interest in not paying any more than it has to. The State argues that it should be exempt from paying prejudgment interest to the United States because, under its own law, it may not be held liable for interest unless it has consented to be. See Guaranty Trust Co. of New York v. West Virginia Turnpike Comm’n, 144 W. Va. 266, 271, 107 S. E. 2d 792, 796 (1959). But the source of this exemption is the State’s sovereign immunity, see id., at 274-275, 107 S. E. 2d, at 797-798; since the State must consent to be sued by private parties, it may consent in a limited fashion and refuse to be liable for prejudgment interest. Because States have no sovereign immunity as against the Federal Government, United States v. Texas, 143 U. S. 621, 646 (1892), any rule exempting a sovereign from the payment of prejudgment interest not only does not apply of its own force to the State’s obligations to the Federal Government, cf. Library of Congress v. Shaw, 478 U. S. 310 (1986), but also does not represent a policy the federal courts are obliged to further. Cf. Board of Comm’rs of Jackson County, 308 U. S., at 349, 352; United States v. Yazell, 382 U. S., at 352 (while courts must show “solicitude for state interests, particularly in the field of family and family-property arrangements,” these interests may be overridden to avoid injury to “clear and substantial interests of the National Government”). Accordingly, we hold that West Virginia may under the circumstances of this case be held liable for prejudgment interest.
We recognize that our holding may work a hardship upon the citizens of West Virginia, who have already suffered greatly as a result of the tragedies that gave rise to this litigation. But the solution for that problem must lie with Congress and not the courts. The DRA expresses a clear policy that responsibility for disaster relief should be apportioned in a particular way between the State and Federal Governments. A remedy for any asserted unfairness in this apportionment must be sought through the political process. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is
Affirmed.
The amount sought was $5,783,098.09 through October 18, 1982, plus $2,841.26 for every day thereafter until judgment was entered. App. to Pet. for Cert. C-3, n. 2.
Prejudgment interest serves to compensate for the loss of use of money due as damages from the time the claim accrues until judgment is entered, thereby achieving full compensation for the injury those damages are intended to redress. See Comment, Prejudgment Interest: Survey and Suggestion, 77 Nw. U. L. Rev. 192 (1982).
The District Court held that whether interest had to be paid depended on a balancing of equities between the parties; the Court of Appeals rejected such an approach, as do we. This is not to say that an equitable consideration such as laches cannot bar an otherwise valid claim for interest, see Board of Comm’rs of Jackson County v. United States, 308 U. S. 343, 352-353 (1939).
Petitioners contend that United States v. North Carolina, 136 U. S. 211 (1890), establishes that a State may not be liable for interest, even to the United States, unless it consents either by statute or in a form authorized by statute. That case was decided before United States v. Texas, 143 U. S. 621 (1892), in which this Court held dispositively that States retain no sovereign immunity as against the Federal Government. We do not speculate as to whether the result in United States v. North Carolina could have been sustained on a rationale other than the one the Court articulated there.
West Virginia does not have a general policy against prejudgment interest. Under West Virginia law, such interest has been available by statute in contract actions between private parties since 1868. See W. Va. Code § 56-6-27 (1966) (the jury in all contract actions “shall find the aggregate of principal and interest due at the time of the trial”); W. Va. Code, Ch. 131, §14 (1923) (same); W. Va. Code, Ch. 120, §14 (1882) (same); W. Va. Code, Ch. 131, § 14 (1868) (same). Moreover, in 1981, W. Va. Code § 56-6-31 was amended to provide for prejudgment interest in cases other than contract actions, except where otherwise provided by law, where a judgment provided for special damages as defined in the statute, or liquidated damages. W. Va. Code § 56-6-31 (Supp. 1986).
We decline to attribute any significance for purposes of this case to the Act of Jan. 12, 1983, Pub. L. 97-452, 96 Stat. 2467. This statute prescribes the interest payable by “person[s]” to the Federal Government, 31 U. S. C. § 3717(a)(1), but excludes from the definition of “person” any “agency ... of a State government, or of a unit of general local government.” 31 U. S. C. § 3701(c). As stated in § 3717(g)(2), this statute does not apply to claims arising under contracts entered into before October 25, 1982, and therefore has no force here. We can draw no inference about Congress’ comprehension of the federal common law of interest from its enactment, without any discernible legislative history, of a definitional section excluding state agencies from those “persons” statutorily required to pay interest on debts owed to the Federal Government. Moreover, we venture no opinion regarding the question whether this enactment was intended to abrogate or leave intact the federal common law governing when a State must pay interest to the Federal Government. See Pennsylvania Dept. of Public Welfare v. United States, 781 F. 2d 334, 341-342 (CA3 1986); Perales v. United States, 598 P. Supp. 19, 23-24 (SDNY), aff’d, 751 F. 2d 95 (CA2 1984) (per curiam).

Question: Who is the respondent of the case?
年. attorney general of the United States, or his office
数. specified state board or department of education
日. city, town, township, village, or borough government or governmental unit
的. state commission, board, committee, or authority
月. county government or county governmental unit, except school district
用. court or judicial district
成. state department or agency
名. governmental employee or job applicant
时. female governmental employee or job applicant
件. minority governmental employee or job applicant
一. minority female governmental employee or job applicant
请. not listed among agencies in the first Administrative Action variable
中. retired or former governmental employee
据. U.S. House of Representatives
码. interstate compact
不. judge
新. state legislature, house, or committee
文. local governmental unit other than a county, city, town, township, village, or borough
下. governmental official, or an official of an agency established under an interstate compact
分. state or U.S. supreme court
入. local school district or board of education
人. U.S. Senate
功. U.S. senator
上. foreign nation or instrumentality
户. state or local governmental taxpayer, or executor of the estate of
为. state college or university
间. United States
号. State
取. person accused, indicted, or suspected of crime
回. advertising business or agency
在. agent, fiduciary, trustee, or executor
页. airplane manufacturer, or manufacturer of parts of airplanes
字. airline
有. distributor, importer, or exporter of alcoholic beverages
个. alien, person subject to a denaturalization proceeding, or one whose citizenship is revoked
作. American Medical Association
示. National Railroad Passenger Corp.
出. amusement establishment, or recreational facility
是. arrested person, or pretrial detainee
失. attorney, or person acting as such;includes bar applicant or law student, or law firm or bar association
表. author, copyright holder
除. bank, savings and loan, credit union, investment company
加. bankrupt person or business, or business in reorganization
败. establishment serving liquor by the glass, or package liquor store
生. water transportation, stevedore
信. bookstore, newsstand, printer, bindery, purveyor or distributor of books or magazines
类. brewery, distillery
置. broker, stock exchange, investment or securities firm
理. construction industry
本. bus or motorized passenger transportation vehicle
息. business, corporation
行. buyer, purchaser
定. cable TV
改. car dealer
市. person convicted of crime
期. tangible property, other than real estate, including contraband
以. chemical company
修. child, children, including adopted or illegitimate
元. religious organization, institution, or person
方. private club or facility
录. coal company or coal mine operator
区. computer business or manufacturer, hardware or software
单. consumer, consumer organization
位. creditor, including institution appearing as such; e.g., a finance company
型. person allegedly criminally insane or mentally incompetent to stand trial
法. defendant
县. debtor
存. real estate developer
品. disabled person or disability benefit claimant
前. distributor
称. person subject to selective service, including conscientious objector
注. drug manufacturer
值. druggist, pharmacist, pharmacy
输. employee, or job applicant, including beneficiaries of
建. employer-employee trust agreement, employee health and welfare fund, or multi-employer pension plan
能. electric equipment manufacturer
大. electric or hydroelectric power utility, power cooperative, or gas and electric company
例. eleemosynary institution or person
度. environmental organization
始. employer. If employer's relations with employees are governed by the nature of the employer's business (e.g., railroad, boat), rather than labor law generally, the more specific designation is used in place of Employer.
到. farmer, farm worker, or farm organization
面. father
载. female employee or job applicant
点. female
密. movie, play, pictorial representation, theatrical production, actor, or exhibitor or distributor of
动. fisherman or fishing company
果. food, meat packing, or processing company, stockyard
图. foreign (non-American) nongovernmental entity
提. franchiser
发. franchisee
式. lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual person or organization
国. person who guarantees another's obligations
登. handicapped individual, or organization of devoted to
错. health organization or person, nursing home, medical clinic or laboratory, chiropractor
者. heir, or beneficiary, or person so claiming to be
认. hospital, medical center
误. husband, or ex-husband
接. involuntarily committed mental patient
关. Indian, including Indian tribe or nation
重. insurance company, or surety
第. inventor, patent assigner, trademark owner or holder
地. investor
如. injured person or legal entity, nonphysically and non-employment related
设. juvenile
目. government contractor
开. holder of a license or permit, or applicant therefor
事. magazine
可. male
要. medical or Medicaid claimant
代. medical supply or manufacturing co.
小. racial or ethnic minority employee or job applicant
选. minority female employee or job applicant
标. manufacturer
明. management, executive officer, or director, of business entity
编. military personnel, or dependent of, including reservist
求. mining company or miner, excluding coal, oil, or pipeline company
列. mother
网. auto manufacturer
万. newspaper, newsletter, journal of opinion, news service
最. radio and television network, except cable tv
器. nonprofit organization or business
所. nonresident
内. nuclear power plant or facility
体. owner, landlord, or claimant to ownership, fee interest, or possession of land as well as chattels
通. shareholders to whom a tender offer is made
务. tender offer
此. oil company, or natural gas producer
商. elderly person, or organization dedicated to the elderly
序. out of state noncriminal defendant
化. political action committee
消. parent or parents
否. parking lot or service
保. patient of a health professional
使. telephone, telecommunications, or telegraph company
次. physician, MD or DO, dentist, or medical society
机. public interest organization
对. physically injured person, including wrongful death, who is not an employee
量. pipe line company
查. package, luggage, container
部. political candidate, activist, committee, party, party member, organization, or elected official
性. indigent, needy, welfare recipient
和. indigent defendant
更. private person
后. prisoner, inmate of penal institution
证. professional organization, business, or person
题. probationer, or parolee
确. protester, demonstrator, picketer or pamphleteer (non-employment related), or non-indigent loiterer
格. public utility
了. publisher, publishing company
于. radio station
金. racial or ethnic minority
公. person or organization protesting racial or ethnic segregation or discrimination
午. racial or ethnic minority student or applicant for admission to an educational institution
円. realtor
片. journalist, columnist, member of the news media
空. resident
态. restaurant, food vendor
管. retarded person, or mental incompetent
主. retired or former employee
天. railroad
自. private school, college, or university
我. seller or vendor
全. shipper, including importer and exporter
今. shopping center, mall
来. spouse, or former spouse
正. stockholder, shareholder, or bondholder
说. retail business or outlet
意. student, or applicant for admission to an educational institution
送. taxpayer or executor of taxpayer's estate, federal only
容. tenant or lessee
已. theater, studio
结. forest products, lumber, or logging company
会. person traveling or wishing to travel abroad, or overseas travel agent
段. trucking company, or motor carrier
计. television station
源. union member
色. unemployed person or unemployment compensation applicant or claimant
時. union, labor organization, or official of
交. veteran
系. voter, prospective voter, elector, or a nonelective official seeking reapportionment or redistricting of legislative districts (POL)
过. wholesale trade
电. wife, or ex-wife
询. witness, or person under subpoena
符. network
未. slave
程. slave-owner
常. bank of the united states
条. timber company
当. u.s. job applicants or employees
情. Army and Air Force Exchange Service
口. Atomic Energy Commission
合. Secretary or administrative unit or personnel of the U.S. Air Force
车. Department or Secretary of Agriculture
实. Alien Property Custodian
组. Secretary or administrative unit or personnel of the U.S. Army
版. Board of Immigration Appeals
周. Bureau of Indian Affairs
址. Bonneville Power Administration
记. Benefits Review Board
二. Civil Aeronautics Board
同. Bureau of the Census
业. Central Intelligence Agency
权. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
其. Department or Secretary of Commerce
进. Comptroller of Currency
试. Consumer Product Safety Commission
验. Civil Rights Commission
料. Civil Service Commission, U.S.
传. Customs Service or Commissioner of Customs
述. Defense Base Closure and REalignment Commission
集. Drug Enforcement Agency
多. Department or Secretary of Defense (and Department or Secretary of War)
无. Department or Secretary of Energy
员. Department or Secretary of the Interior
报. Department of Justice or Attorney General
他. Department or Secretary of State
無. Department or Secretary of Transportation
服. Department or Secretary of Education
线. U.S. Employees' Compensation Commission, or Commissioner
这. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
制. Environmental Protection Agency or Administrator
将. Federal Aviation Agency or Administration
处. Federal Bureau of Investigation or Director
高. Federal Bureau of Prisons
子. Farm Credit Administration
道. Federal Communications Commission (including a predecessor, Federal Radio Commission)
章. Federal Credit Union Administration
手. Food and Drug Administration
库. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
三. Federal Energy Administration
从. Federal Election Commission
支. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
家. Federal Housing Administration
长. Federal Home Loan Bank Board
付. Federal Labor Relations Authority
秒. Federal Maritime Board
路. Federal Maritime Commission
完. Farmers Home Administration
象. Federal Parole Board
则. Federal Power Commission
现. Federal Railroad Administration
京. Federal Reserve Board of Governors
转. Federal Reserve System
辑. Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation
限. Federal Trade Commission
力. Federal Works Administration, or Administrator
学. General Accounting Office
外. Comptroller General
调. General Services Administration
项. Department or Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare
北. Department or Secretary of Health and Human Services
工. Department or Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
笑. Interstate Commerce Commission
监. Indian Claims Commission
任. Immigration and Naturalization Service, or Director of, or District Director of, or Immigration and Naturalization Enforcement
相. Internal Revenue Service, Collector, Commissioner, or District Director of
微. Information Security Oversight Office
册. Department or Secretary of Labor
联. Loyalty Review Board
平. Legal Services Corporation
增. Merit Systems Protection Board
听. Multistate Tax Commission
解. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
等. Secretary or administrative unit of the U.S. Navy
得. National Credit Union Administration
收. National Endowment for the Arts
安. National Enforcement Commission
价. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
藏. National Labor Relations Board, or regional office or officer
命. National Mediation Board
应. National Railroad Adjustment Board
看. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
索. National Security Agency
资. Office of Economic Opportunity
产. Office of Management and Budget
串. Office of Price Administration, or Price Administrator
布. Office of Personnel Management
原. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
知. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
级. Office of Workers' Compensation Programs
水. Patent Office, or Commissioner of, or Board of Appeals of
击. Pay Board (established under the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970)
好. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
物. U.S. Public Health Service
放. Postal Rate Commission
亿. Provider Reimbursement Review Board
经. Renegotiation Board
模. Railroad Adjustment Board
之. Railroad Retirement Board
台. Subversive Activities Control Board
州. Small Business Administration
配. Securities and Exchange Commission
画. Social Security Administration or Commissioner
统. Selective Service System
共. Department or Secretary of the Treasury
连. Tennessee Valley Authority
海. United States Forest Service
节. United States Parole Commission
退. Postal Service and Post Office, or Postmaster General, or Postmaster
間. United States Sentencing Commission
比. Veterans' Administration
问. War Production Board
至. Wage Stabilization Board
备. General Land Office of Commissioners
你. Transportation Security Administration
黑. Surface Transportation Board
或. U.S. Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corp.
与. Reconstruction Finance Corp.
影. Department or Secretary of Homeland Security
话. Unidentifiable
视. International Entity
Answer:

Answer: 间