United States v. Cors (337 U.S. 325)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 13, 1949 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 337 U.S. 325 · 69 S. Ct. 1086
- Decided
- June 13, 1949
- Term
- October Term 1948
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Douglas
- Issue area
- Due Process
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice- Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court. This is a suit in the Court of Claims under §-902 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, 49 Stat. 2015, as amended, 53 Stat. 1255, 46 U. S. C. § 1242, to recover the balance of “just compensation” alleged to be due respondent from the United States for requisitioning his steam tug, the MacArthur, in October, 1942. The tug was a Coast Guard boat built in 1895 and used by it in harbor duties at Baltimore until 1939. It was then transferred to the Coast Guard base at Portland, Maine. In September, 1941, the Coast Guard advertised it for sale to. the highest bidder. Respondent was the highest bidder, purchasing the tug in Maine on March 19, 1942, for $2,875. Thereafter he expended $5,699.78 on labor and materials in repairing and improving the vessel, an amount which would have been substantially greater had he not performed part of the work himself. In April, 1942, respondent -received from the Department of Commerce a certificate designating the vessel as a towing steam vessel and authorizing him to employ it in the coastal trade for one year. Respondent then brought the tug to Staten Island, New York, where it remained until requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration on October 15, 1942. A .survey by the Navy had indicated it was suitable as a steam-heating plant for heating and pumping fuel oil from oil barges into…
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