United States v. Causby

United States v. Causby

Argued May 1, 1946
Decided May 27, 1946
Full case name United States v. Causby
Citations

328 U.S. 256 (more)

328 U.S. 256
Prior history 104 Ct.Cls. 342, 60 F.Supp. 751, reversed and remanded.
Holding
'a landowner's domain includes the lower altitude airspace, but that property does not extend "ad coelum" (indefinitely upward).
Court membership
Chief Justice
Harlan F. Stone
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · Stanley F. Reed
Felix Frankfurter · William O. Douglas
Frank Murphy · Robert H. Jackson
Wiley B. Rutledge · Harold H. Burton
Case opinions
Majority Douglas, joined by Reed, Frankfurter, Murphy, Rutledge
Dissent Black, Burton
Jackson took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

United States v. Causby 328 U.S. 256 (1946) was a United States Supreme Court Decision related to ownership of airspace above private property. The Court held that title to land includes domain over the lower altitudes. The United States Government claimed a public right to fly over Causby's farm, while Causby argued such low-altitude flights entitled the property owner to just compensation under the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment."[1] The findings were two-fold. The court rejected the United States Government's assertion to "possess" and "control" all airspace above private lands, and it nullified the doctrine that property extends indefinitely upward.

Background

Thomas Lee Causby was the owner of a chicken farm that was located less than a half mile from the end of the runway of Lindley Field, an airstrip in Greensboro, North Carolina.[2] During World War II, the United States military flew planes into the airstrip and as low as 83 feet (25 m) above Causby's Farm.[2]

The low-flying military aircraft interfered with Causby's Farm, so much that the chickens stopped laying eggs and some ran into the sides of the chicken coop leading to their deaths. Causby lost 150 chickens, and had to stop farming. The Government claimed a "right" to use the airspace. Causby sued the government for compensation under the Fifth Amendment's takings clause and won in the lower courts.

Under common law, a person who owns the soil also owns the space indefinitely upward. ":ad coelum or to the heavens".[3][4][5][6][7]

In defense, The US referenced the 1926 Air Commerce Act in which the US government claimed to 'possess' all airspace.[8]

The United States Court of Claims ruled that a property owner has the right to prohibit public use of the air space above the owner's land "that interferes with his right to light, air, view, or the safe and peaceful occupation and enjoyment of his land."[9] The Court of Claims ruled that Causby was entitled to just compensation for the government having 'Taken' his property by allowing overflights through airspace above his property.

The United States appealed the ruling against them, and the Supreme Court agreed to review the case, regarding the contradiction between the common laws of property ownership (without any height limit) against the assertion of a federal claim to possess all airspace above the United States down to ground level.[9]

Holding

The United States Supreme Court rejected the government's claim to 'possess' the space down to ground level.[10] The Court held low altitude flights to be "a direct invasion of [the landowner's] domain",[11] and that a "servitude has been imposed upon the land" by the occupancy of the private space.[12] The Court also recognized that a claim of property ownership indefinitely upward "has no place in the modern world."[13][14][15] Thereby rejecting "ad coelum"

The court held the public's right of flight does not extend downward to the earth's surface. finding "if the landowner is to have full enjoyment of the land, he must have exclusive control of the immediate reaches of the enveloping atmosphere. Otherwise, buildings could not be erected, trees could not be planted, and even fences could not be run" …“The fact that he does not occupy [space] in a physical sense -- by the erection of buildings and the like -- is not material. As we have said, the flight of airplanes, which skim the surface but do not touch it, is as much an appropriation of the use of the land as a more conventional entry upon it."[16][17]

On remand, the Court of Claims was tasked with defining the value of the "property interests" that had been taken from Causby by flyovers. Because the lowest plane flew at 83 feet (25 m), and because flights above 365 feet (111 m) were considered in the public domain, the Court needed to determine the value owed the Farmer for public use of his airspace between 83 and 365 feet (25 and 111 m). The Court did not need to compensate the farmer for use below 83 feet (25 m), because the planes did not fly below that height. [18]

Dissent

Justice Black, joined by Justice Burton, dissented with the decision.[19] Black wrote that the majority opinion created "an opening wedge for an unwarranted judicial interference with the power of Congress to develop solutions for new and vital national problems." The minority opinion was predicated on interference with private property being resolved at the State level through tort law, rather than a Federal constitutional review. However, the US government filed the appeal based upon a claim of ownership to the airspace, which the court roundly rejected at lower altitudes, and if the Federal government is involved it becomes a 'Federal Court' issue. [19] The dissenting opinion would have simply forced the State, rather than the Federal Government, to compensate the landowner for taking property already in private hands.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Huebert, Jacob H. (2011-04-18) Who Owns the Sky?, Mises Institute
  2. 1 2 Nagy, John A. "Airport Noise Issue Not New: Chicken Farm Case Set Legal Precedent in 1946 Court Ruling". Greensboro News and Record (Greensboro, North Carolina). October 10, 1998.
  3. ↑ Thomas Merrill, Establishing Ownership: First Possession versus Accession, p. 14, fn. 22-23, Law and Economics Workshop (University of California, Berkeley 2007 Paper 3), found at CDLib website. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
  4. ↑ Cjus est solum, ejus est usque ad coelum et ad inferos. This has been translated as “To whomever the soil belongs, he owns also to the sky and the depths.” Black's Law Dictionary (6th ed. 1990). From Merrill, fn. 22, q.v..
  5. ↑ "Cujus est solum, ejus est usque ad coelum, is the maxim of the law, upwards; therefore no man may erect any building, or the like, to overhang another's land: ... the word "land" includes not only the face of the earth, but every thing under it, or over it." 28 Am. Jur.2d 618, 2 Blackstone Commentaries Book, 2, p. 18 (1836).
  6. ↑ United States v. Causby, 328 U.S. 256, 260 261 (1946), citing I Coke, Institutes, 19th Ed. 1832, ch. 1, § 1(4a); 2 Blackstone, Lewis Ed. 1902, bk 2, p. 18.
  7. ↑ 3 Kent, Commentaries, Gould Ed. 1896, p. 621
  8. ↑ id 260
  9. 1 2 "To Sift 'Noisy Plane' Case: Supreme Court to Review Man's Right to Collect Damages". Associated Press. The New York Times. April 2, 1946. p. 21.
  10. ↑ id 266
  11. ↑ id 266
  12. ↑ id 267.
  13. ↑ United States v. Causby, 328 U.S. 256, 261 (1942).
  14. ↑ 328 U.S. 256 (1946). From Merrill, fn. 23, q.v..
  15. ↑ id 261
  16. ↑ id 264
  17. ↑ US v Causby.
  18. ↑ Causby v U.S. 75 F.262 Ct.Cl (1948).
  19. 1 2 "High Court Upholds Award Against Low-Flying Planes". Associated Press. The Baltimore Sun. May 28, 1946. p. 1.

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