Opinion ID: 463698
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: 114 Courts are not the sole source of justice in our land. And that is well, considering the human imperfections of we few to whom the judicial robe is loaned. In providing that federal courts shall be of limited jurisdiction, in refusing to empower the courts to resolve every conceivable grievance, and in prohibiting abridgement of the right of the people to petition the Government for redress of grievances, the Framers and Amenders writ well. 115 That wrongs were done to Americans of Japanese ancestry under Executive Order 9066 is disputed by no one involved in this case. The internment of fellow Americans on the basis of race, and out of what now appears to have been an excessive enshrinement of military necessity, sets a scenario for retributive justice. But that is not the issue before us. 116 The basic issues before us are: (1) does this court have jurisdiction to hear this appeal? Assuming that question is answered yes, (2) did the district court err in dismissing appellants' taking and contract claims in view of the affirmative defense of statute of limitations? 1 117 Within the judicial process, as elsewhere, there is no free lunch. To reach a feel-good result here, a price must be paid. That price takes the form of what is in my view a disregard of the written law of Congress and precedents of this court, to the substantial injury of the jurisprudence surrounding 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1346 (1982 & Supp. II 1984). Though sympathy suggests surrender, and compassion counsels capitulation, that price is for me too high. 118 Convinced that this court lacks jurisdiction, that the majority's holding frustrates Congress' intent when it enacted the Federal Courts Improvement Act, that the district court correctly applied the statute of limitations, and that a remedy better for our nation's jurisprudence and for appellants is available from the Congress, I respectfully dissent.