United States v. City of Fulton et al. (475 U.S. 657)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 7, 1986 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 475 U.S. 657 · 106 S. Ct. 1422
- Decided
- April 7, 1986
- Term
- October Term 1985
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Marshall
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court. This case presents the question whether the Secretary of Energy violated §5 of the Flood Control Act of 1944, 16 U. S. C. §825s, or his contractual obligations by putting rates for hydroelectric power generated at federally owned dams into effect on an interim basis pending further review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The Court of Claims held that the Secretary’s actions exceeded his contractual and statutory authority, and granted summary judgment to respondents. 230 Ct. Cl. 635, 680 F. 2d 115 (1982). After further proceedings, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed, finding that the Court of Claims’ decision was the law of the case and correct on the merits. 751 F. 2d 1255 (1985). We granted certiorari, 473 U. S. 903 (1985), and we now reverse. I A In the Flood Control Act, Congress authorized the construction of a number of dam and reservoir projects, operated by the Army Corps of Engineers and producing large blocks of hydroelectric power. Congress had granted authority for several such projects before 1944, but had enacted no “general law governing the sale and distribution of power” so generated. S. Rep. No. 1030, 78th Cong., 2d Sess., 3 (1944). Intending “to place by law the responsibility for disposal of such power in an existing Federal agency,” ibid., Congress provided: “Electric…
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