Court Opinion

ID: 9426398
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:17:46.427197+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:00.712037
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Blackmun,
concurring.
For me, and obviously for the Congress, this case is much closer and the legislative history much less clear *661than the Court’s opinion makes them out to be. There are factors that distinctly favor the respondents. For one example, in other comparable statutes, there are specific reservations (e. g., “unless otherwise provided by Congress”) of the kind of congressional power that the Court finds implicit here. Our National Legislature obviously knew how expressly to reserve the power and yet did not employ the “magic words” here. On balance, however, the strength of the case rests with the petitioner. It is of some importance, I feel, that the minerals could have been leased and depleted during the 50-year period. This possibility surely diminishes the reliance interest of any allottee and his successors. I therefore join the Court’s opinion and its judgment.