United States v. Carmack, 12980.
| Decision Date | 06 November 1945 |
| Docket Number | No. 12980.,12980. |
| Parties | UNITED STATES v. CARMACK. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Harry C. Blanton, U. S. Atty., of Sikeston, Mo. , for appellant.
L. Lee Bowman, of Cape Girardeau, Mo., and Homer Hall, of St. Louis, Mo. (Robert D. Abbott, of St. Louis, Mo., and I. R. Kelso, of Cape Girardeau, Mo., on the brief), for appellee.
Before GARDNER, JOHNSEN, and RIDDICK, Circuit Judges.
On the first trial of this action, in which the United States seeks to condemn as a site for a proposed postoffice, courthouse, and customhouse building that part of a public park in the City of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on which are located a public library and a building housing the local court of common pleas, the offices of the City of Cape Girardeau and the court officials, there was a judgment in favor of the United States. We reversed for reasons not necessary to be restated on this appeal from a judgment against the United States on the second trial. Carmack v. United States, 8 Cir., 135 F.2d 196. In remanding the case on the first appeal for further proceedings in the District Court we said that, while the inherent power of the United States to take the lands in question could not be doubted, there was on the record then before us the question as to whether the United States had determined, by the General Acts of Congress under which the condemnation proceedings were prosecuted, to exercise that power in respect to the particular property sought to be condemned; and the further question, if the first should be answered in the affirmative, whether in carrying out the purpose of Congress the agents of the Government to whom the selection of land for the site of the proposed Federal building had been delegated by Congress had acted capriciously or arbitrarily. Carmack v. United States, supra, 135 F.2d at pages 199, 200. Both questions have been resolved against the United States. This appeal brings into question these rulings of the District Court. Since we conclude that the court's decision on the first question is correct under the facts in this case, we find it unnecessary to consider the second.
The question under consideration is stated in the Government's brief as follows:
"Whether the Acts of Congress authorizing and directing the Postmaster General and the Federal Works Administrator to select towns and sites for post offices, customhouses and court houses empower those officials to select land already devoted by a city and county to public uses where other sites are available and failure to secure such lands will not result in failure of the federal purposes."
The precise question, however, for decision is whether, under the facts revealed by this record, Congress may be said to have authorized the Postmaster General and the Federal Works Administrator to take the particular land sought to be condemned. The question is one of statutory interpretation within the competence of courts to decide. Carmack v. United States, supra, 135 F.2d at page 200.
The land sought to be taken by the United States was conveyed to the inhabitants of the Town of Cape Girardeau, predecessor of the City of Cape Girardeau, in 1820 to be held forever by the grantees as a public park for the use and benefit of the inhabitants of the town and the owners of adjacent lots. The City of Cape Girardeau has no power to convey any part of the public park nor to devote it to any use other than that specified in the deed under which it has been held by the City and its predecessors for more than a century. Board of Regents of Normal School District No. 3 v. Painter, 102 Mo. 464, 14 S.W. 938, 940, 10 L.R.A. 493; Carmack v. United States, supra. That part of the park now sought to be condemned is occupied by the public library building of Cape Girardeau and by the local courthouse. The entire second floor of the courthouse is used by the court of common pleas, a court of record with jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters. The first floor is occupied by the offices of the City of Cape Girardeau, including the mayor, city engineer, city clerk, city council, and city attorney, and also by the clerk of the court of common pleas. The basement of the building is used largely for storage space for the files and records of the common pleas court. The library building is used as a meeting place for all local civic organizations. The property described in the Government's petition for condemnation is...
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United States v. Carmack
...expressly found it unnecessary to consider whether or not the federal officials had acted 'capriciously or arbitrarily.' United States v. Carmack, 151 F.2d 881, 882. Because of the importance of the construction of the statutes authorizing the condemnation of land for federal uses, we grant......
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United States v. Mischke
...Circuit, 150 F.2d 613; and United States v. Carmack, 329 U.S. 230, 67 S.Ct. 252, 91 L. Ed. 209, reversing the decision of this Court in 151 F.2d 881. The determination of the Secretary of the Army, the delegate of Congress, as to the necessity of acquiring the lands selected by him, is, we ......
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...Circuit affirmed, holding that the federal agencies had no power to take that particular parcel of land by condemnation. United States v. Carmack, 8 Cir., 151 F.2d 881. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the right of eminent domain of the United States is an unlimited power to take wh......
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United States v. 40 ACRES OF LAND, ETC., A-12883.
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