United States v. 50 Acres of Land et al. (469 U.S. 24)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided December 4, 1984 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 469 U.S. 24 · 105 S. Ct. 451
- Decided
- December 4, 1984
- Term
- October Term 1984
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Stevens
- Issue area
- Due Process
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. The Fifth Amendment requires that the United States pay “just compensation” — normally measured by fair market value — whenever it takes private property for public use. This case involves the condemnation of property owned by a municipality. The question is whether a public condemnee is entitled to compensation measured by the cost of acquiring a substitute facility if it has a duty to replace the condemned facility. We hold that this measure of compensation is not required when the market value of the condemned property is ascertainable. I In 1978, as part of a flood control project, the United States condemned approximately 50 acres of land owned by the city of Duncanville, Texas. The site had been used since 1969 as a sanitary landfill. In order to replace the condemned landfill, the city acquired a 113.7-acre site and developed it into a larger and better facility. In the condemnation proceedings, the city claimed that it was entitled to recover all of the costs incurred in acquiring the substitute site and developing it as a landfill, an amount in excess of $1,276,000. The United States, however, contended that just compensation should be determined by the fair market value of the condemned facility and deposited $199,950 in the registry of the court as its estimation of the amount due. Before trial the Government…
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