City of New York v. New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Co. (344 U.S. 293)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 12, 1953 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 344 U.S. 293 · 73 S. Ct. 299
- Decided
- January 12, 1953
- Term
- October Term 1952
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Black
- Issue area
- Due Process
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Black delivered the opinion of the Court. The question presented is whether under the circumstances of this case reorganization of the respondent railroad under § 77 of the Bankruptcy Act destroyed and barred enforcement of liens which New York City had imposed on specific parcels of the railroad’s real estate for street, sewer and other improvements. The improvements were made and the liens were all laid prior to 1931. Reorganization was begun in the District Court in 1935. Subsequently, acting pursuant to subdivision (c)(7) of § 77 the court issued an order directing “creditors” to file their claims by a prescribed date, after which unfiled claims would be denied participation except for “cause shown.” The railroad was required to mail copies of the order to mortgage trustees or their counsel and to all creditors who had already appeared in court. Other creditors had to depend for their notice on two once-a-week publications of the order in five daily newspapers, one of which was the Wall Street Journal. New York thus received no copy of the bar order. Its lien claims were never filed. The court’s final decree provided for transfer of the old railroad’s properties to the newly organized company free from the city’s liens. Jurisdiction was reserved to consider and act on future applications for instructions concerning disputes over interpretation and execution of…
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