Court Opinion

ID: 9448692
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 23:43:00.781201+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:31:31.752868
License: Public Domain

BLACKMUN, Circuit Judge
(concurring).
I concur, although somewhat hesitatingly. This case, I suspect, is a very close one. I fully appreciate the force of the plaintiff’s position when it urges (a) the purpose of the Miller Act, namely, affording all suppliers a protection equivalent to that normally provided by state lien laws; (b) the liberal approach given the Miller Act (see, for example, United States for Use and Benefit of Bryant Electric Co. v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 2 Cir., 1962, 297 F.2d 665); (c) the in pari materia character of the Cape-hart and Miller Acts; and (d) the significance of the existing authorities, cited by the trial court and in Judge Henley’s opinion (to which might now be added Gypsum Contractors, Inc. v. American Surety Co., 37 N.J. 315, 181 A.2d 174, 1962), which, although concerned primarily with jurisdiction, at least inferentially lend support to the argument that the procedural provisions of the Miller Act are equally applicable to matters arising under the Capehart Act.
I am persuaded, however, by the agency practice; by the distinction between Capehart projects and other public works so far as direct use of government funds is concerned; by the apparently greater exposure to risk in Capehart housing; by the feeling that the surety’s obligation here should be measured by its contract, particularly where the rights of a non-party are concerned and where, as contrasted with the Miller Act, the statute is so unclear; by the absence of helpful material in the legislative history; and by the completely unexplained failure of this plaintiff to avoid his difficulty in the first instance by taking the small trouble to give the dual notice so clearly required by the bond.