Court Opinion

ID: 9477182
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 06:16:39.041827+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:45:44.796128
License: Public Domain

MERRITT, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I disagree with the majority that the District Court’s “conclusion as to the justification for the position taken by the government was eminently sound.” The District Court’s decision was premised on an erroneous view of what constitutes substantial justification in eminent domain cases. The District Court’s, and the majority’s, view of the applicable law is too narrow and results in relieving the government of most of the burden of proof which it is supposed to carry in Equal Access to Justice Act attorney fees determinations.
The District Court premised its decision on the proposition that if the government hires qualified experts and deposits sums of money with the court which are consistent with those experts’ appraisals, the position of the government is substantially justified. The only inquiry thus made by the District Court is whether the government hired a qualified appraiser and relied on the appraiser’s valuation by depositing a comparable sum of money with the court.
This approach, which mirrors that taken by the Eighth Circuit in United States v. 1,378.65 Acres of Land Situate in Vernon County, 794 F.2d 1313 (8th Cir.1986), cre*829ates a virtually irrebuttable presumption in favor of the government. The government is already required by law to appraise property which it intends to acquire through the eminent domain power, see 42 U.S.C. § 4651(2) (1982). Therefore, assuming that the government will comply with the law and use an appraiser, the only showing it must make is that its appraiser was qualified and that it relied on the appraisal. In effect, all that is guaranteed to landowners is a form of procedural due process: the government must follow a set of established procedures in eminent domain proceedings. The Equal Access to Justice Act, however, requires a higher showing. Not only must the government follow reasonable procedures, the government must take a reasonable position. The Act was intended to provide attorney fees unless the government’s case has a “reasonable basis both in law and fact.” H.Rep. No. 1418, 96th Cong.2d Sess. 10, reprinted in 1980 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 4984, 4989. See also Trident Marine Construction, Inc. v. District Engineer, 766 F.2d 974, 980 (6th Cir.1985). In refusing to award fees, the District Court ascertained whether the government followed the procedures required by law, but ignored the factual question at the crux of the issue, viz., whether the position taken by the government was reasonable in light of all the evidence in the case.
The majority appears to reject the District Court’s bright line test, but ignores the burden of proof. The majority rightly refuses to construe the statute as saying the government’s position must be held to be unjustified simply because the landowner prevailed. Contra United States v. 5,063.17 Acres of Land, More or Less, Situate in Las Animas County, 607 F.Supp. 311, 314-15 (D.Colo.1985). However, the 1985 amendment that defined “prevailing party” in eminent domain cases is indicative of Congressional intent that landowners recover attorney fees in at least some situations. As in other types of cases under EAJA, the burden of proof is on the government to show that its position was substantially justified. H.Rep. No. 1418, 96th Cong.2d Sess. 10-11, reprinted in 1980 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News at 4989. Rather than presenting a standard by which to judge whether the government has carried its burden, the majority merely notes that the government’s position was not “outrageous” or “clearly indefensible.” This conclusion is apparently reached by simply evaluating the appraisals. Without more, I cannot say that the government has carried its burden of proof.
I would hold that for the government to carry its burden of substantial justification in an eminent domain case, it must present some evidence other than the bare fact that it employed a qualified appraiser and relied on his or her appraisal. Because the government did not do so in this case, I would reverse the judgment of the District Court and award attorney fees to the appellants.