Tull v. United States (481 U.S. 412)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 28, 1987 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 481 U.S. 412 · 107 S. Ct. 1831
- Decided
- April 28, 1987
- Term
- October Term 1986
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Brennan
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Brennan delivered the opinion of the Court. The question for decision is whether the Seventh Amendment guaranteed petitioner a right to a jury trial on both liability and amount of penalty in an action instituted by the Federal Government seeking civil penalties and injunc-tive relief under the Clean Water Act, 62 Stat. 1155, as amended, 33 U. S. C. § 1251 et sea. I — I The Clean Water Act prohibits discharging, without a permit, dredged or fill material into “navigable waters,” including the wetlands adjacent to the waters. 33 U. S. C. §§1311, 1344, and 1362(7); 33 CFR §§323.2(a)(1)-(7) (1986). “Wetlands” are “swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas.” 33 CFR § 323.2(c) (1986). The Government sued petitioner, a real estate developer, for dumping fill on wetlands on the island of Chincoteague, Virginia. The Government alleged in the original complaint that petitioner dumped fill on three sites: Ocean Breeze Mobile Homes Sites, Mire Pond Properties, and Eel Creek. The Government later amended the complaint to allege that petitioner also placed fill in a manmade waterway, named Fowling Gut Extended, on the Ocean Breeze property. Section 1319 enumerates the remedies available under the Clean Water Act. Subsection (b) authorizes relief in the form of temporary or permanent injunctions. Subsection (d) provides that violators of certain sections of the Act “shall be subject…
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