Johnson v. Seifert
Minnesota Supreme Court
100 N.W.2d 689 (1960)
- Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD
Facts
Perry Johnson (plaintiff) and Frank and Gail Seifert (defendants) owned neighboring land. Two lakes lay mostly on the Seiferts’ property, with only about 5 percent of each lake on Johnson’s property. One of the lakes also extended onto other landowners’ property. The Seiferts built a fence along the property line shared with Johnson through both lakes to keep him from accessing the main body of either lake. Johnson sued for an injunction to prevent the Seiferts from fencing him off the lakes. The trial court found each party had exclusive rights to the water overlying their land, meaning Johnson had no right to access the part of the lakes that lay on the Seiferts’ land. Johnson appealed, arguing he had a riparian right to use the entire surface of the lakes for boating, hunting, fishing, swimming, and watering cattle in common with the other riparian owners.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Matson, J.)
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