United States v. Chris W. Beggerly, et al. (524 U.S. 38)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 8, 1998 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 524 U.S. 38 · 118 S. Ct. 1862
- Decided
- June 8, 1998
- Term
- October Term 1997
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. In 1979, the United States brought a quiet title action (the Adams litigation) in the Southern District of Mississippi against respondents and nearly 200 other defendants. On the eve of trial, the Government and respondents entered into a settlement whereby title to the disputed land was quieted in favor of the United States in return for a payment of $208,175.87. Judgment was entered based on this settlement agreement. In 1994, some 12 years after that judgment, respondents sued in the District Court to set aside the settlement agreement and obtain a damages award for the disputed land. Their claims for relief were based on the court’s ancillary jurisdiction, relating back to the Adams litigation, and on the Quiet Title Act (QTA). 28 U. S. C. § 2409a. We hold that respondents were not entitled to relief on either of these grounds. The land in dispute between the United States and respondents is located on Horn Island. Situated in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 13 miles southwest of Pascagoula, Horn Island is currently within the State of Mississippi. It was, at various times during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, controlled by Prance, Britain, and Spain. It is part of the territory that came under the control of the United States as a result of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. In 1950, Clark Beggerly,…
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