United States v. Dickinson (331 U.S. 745)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 16, 1947 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 331 U.S. 745 · 67 S. Ct. 1382
- Decided
- June 16, 1947
- Term
- October Term 1946
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Frankfurter
- Issue area
- Due Process
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Frankfurter delivered the opinion of the Court. These are two suits brought under the Tucker Act (Judicial Code § 24 (20), 28 U. S. C. § 41 (20)) to recover the value of property claimed to have been taken by the Government. The suits were consolidated for purposes of the trial and though they present minor differentiating factors they may here, as below, be disposed of by a single opinion. In order to improve the navigability of the Kanawha River, West Virginia, Congress authorized construction of the Winfield Dam, South Charleston. Act of August 30, 1935, 49 Stat. 1028, 1035, in connection with H. Doc. No. 31, 73d Cong., 1st Sess., pp. 2-4. The water above the dam was to be impounded to create a deeper channel and to raise the river pool level in that area. Notice of the proposed pool elevation was given to abutting landowners on July 1, 1936, and the dam was completed and officially accepted by the United States on August 20, 1937. The river was to be raised by successive stages from 554.65 feet to 566 feet above sea level. That level was not reached until September 22, 1938. As a result of the raising of the river the land belonging to the respondents was permanently flooded. In addition, erosion attributable to the improvement damaged the land which formed the new bank of the pool. Respondents recovered judgments for the value of easements taken by the United…
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