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United States v. Rands

389 U.S. 121, 88 S. Ct. 265, 19 L. Ed. 2d 329 (1967)

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United States v. Rands

United States Supreme Court
389 U.S. 121, 88 S. Ct. 265, 19 L. Ed. 2d 329 (1967)

Facts

R. B. and Josephine Rands (defendants) owned riparian property adjacent to the Columbia River in Oregon. The Rands leased the property to the state, giving the state the option to purchase the property for a contemplated industrial park and port. The state did not exercise the option. The United States (plaintiff) initiated condemnation proceedings in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon to take the Rands’s property as part of a dam and lock project on the Columbia River. The United States then conveyed the land to the state at a price much lower than that contemplated by the lease option. In the condemnation proceedings, the Rands contended that the compensable value of the land should include the contemplated usage as a port. The district court disagreed, setting the value of the land at its value for sand, gravel, and agricultural uses—roughly one-fifth of its value as a port. The Rands appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which reversed the district court’s decision and held that the compensable value of the land included the land’s access to navigable waters and, therefore, its potential use as a port. The United States appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which granted certiorari.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (White, J.)

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