Us vs causby. United States v. Causby 2022-12-26

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The case of United States v. Causby is an important legal precedent in the United States that established the government's power to regulate the use of airspace. The case was heard by the Supreme Court in 1946, and it concerned the government's use of low-altitude flights over the property of Tom and Mary Causby.

The Causbys owned a small chicken farm in North Carolina, and they claimed that the frequent low-altitude flights of military planes over their property were causing their chickens to panic and die. They sued the government, claiming that the flights were a taking of their property without just compensation, in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of the Causbys, holding that the government's use of airspace above their property was a taking of their property. However, the Court also established that the government has the power to regulate the use of airspace in the public interest, as long as it does not interfere with the rights of property owners.

The decision in United States v. Causby has had significant implications for the regulation of airspace in the United States. It established the principle that the government has the power to regulate the use of airspace in the public interest, but it must also respect the rights of property owners. This has been an important consideration in the development of air travel and other uses of airspace in the United States.

In conclusion, the case of United States v. Causby is a significant legal precedent that established the government's power to regulate the use of airspace in the United States, while also recognizing the rights of property owners. It has had important implications for the development of air travel and other uses of airspace in the country.

UNITED STATES V. CAUSBY, 328 U. S. 256 (1946)

us vs causby

We agree with the Court of Claims that a servitude has been imposed upon the land. This, of course, would prevent the plaintiffs from erecting on their property a building of the height of the Empire State Building or of any structure more than 365 feet in height. Yet it is obvious that, if the landowner is to have full enjoyment of the land, he must have exclusive control of the immediate reaches of the enveloping atmosphere. It is therefore argued that, since these flights were within the minimum safe altitudes of flight which had been prescribed, they were an exercise of the declared right of travel through the airspace. Although there have been no airplane accidents on respondents' property, there have been several accidents near the airport and close to respondents' place. The United States Court of Claims accepted Causby's argument, and ordered the government to pay compensation.

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Causby v. United States, (1948), 75 F. Supp. 262

us vs causby

Thus, it is apparent that the path of glide is not the minimum safe altitude of flight within the meaning of the statute. As noted above, surplusage was eliminated in specifying particular air traffic rules in order that the term might be given the broadest possible construc ion by the Department of Commerce and the courts. And that in common law, property lines went up until infinity, but that would mean any airplane crossing over a property amounted to a taking. Rules as to marking were eliminated for the reason that such rules were fairly included within the scope of air rules for the identification of aircraft. Now there is no question even of that, but only Of holding on to the hard earth so as not to get thrown off, With an occasional dream, a vision. As a result of the noise, respondents had to give up their chicken business.

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United States v. Causby: Airspace & Trespassing

us vs causby

Stated otherwise — if defendant flew its airplanes at 366 feet or more above this property, we do not think it can be said that it has imposed a servitude upon it. It is unlikely that Congress intended that the Authority prescribe safe altitudes for planes making cross-country flights, while at the same time it left the more hazardous landing and take-off operations unregulated. It has on it a dwelling house, and also various outbuildings which were mainly used for raising chickens. By 145 1 of the Judicial Code, 28 U. United States, supra, the damages were not merely consequential. The fact that he does not occupy it in a physical sense -- by the erection of buildings and the like -- is not material.

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United States v. Causby

us vs causby

My Country — Taking Clause On May 1, 1946, the Supreme Court heard an argument regarding the taking of private property. Today's opinion is, I fear, an opening wedge for an unwarranted judicial interference with the power of Congress to develop solutions for new and vital and national problems. Since there was a taking of private property for public use, the claim was "founded upon the Constitution," within the meaning of § 141 1 of the Judicial Code, and the Court of Claims had jurisdiction to hear and determine it. The farm of Thomas Lee Causby was situated near a small municipal airport. They were the product of a direct invasion of respondents' domain. In April, 1942, this airport was taken over by the Greensboro-High Point Municipal Airport Authority, and it has since then operated as a municipal airport.

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United States V. Causby

us vs causby

It is the owner's loss, not the taker's gain, which is the measure of the value of the property taken. Ассоrdіng tо Саusbу, nоіsе frоm thе аіrроrt rеgulаrlу frіghtеnеd thе аnіmаls оn hіs fаrm, rеsultіng іn thе dеаths оf sеvеrаl сhісkеns. Sovereignty in the airspace rests in the State 'except where granted to and assumed by the United States. On remand, the Court of Claims was tasked with defining the value of the "property interests" that had been taken from Causby by flyovers. When these two simple remedial devices are elevated to a Constitutional level under the Fifth Amendment, as the Court today seems to have done, they can stand as obstacles to better adapted techniques that might be offered by experienced experts and accepted by Congress. The navigable airspace which Congress has placed in the public domain is 'airspace above the minimum safe altitudes of flight prescribed by the Civil Aeronautics Authority. The path of glide for airplanes might reduce a valuable factory site to grazing land, an orchard to a vegetable patch, a residential section to a wheat field.

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The Takings Clause, United States v. Causby, and Chicken Farms

us vs causby

The United States concludes that, when flights are made within the navigable airspace without any physical invasion of the property of the landowners, there has been no taking of property. Causby is a Supreme Court case related to government compensation to citizens for damage to private property. Yet it is obvious that if the landowner is to have full enjoyment of the land, he must have exclusive control of the immediate reaches of the enveloping atmosphere. Some value would remain. The Court of Claims held, as we have noted, that an easement was taken.

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UNITED STATES v. CAUSBY et ux.

us vs causby

I have no doubt that Congress will, if not handicapped by judicial interpretations of the Constitution, preserve the freedom of the air, and at the same time, satisfy the just claims of aggrieved persons. The principle is recognized when the law gives a remedy in case overhanging structures are erected on adjoining land. As noted above, surplusage was eliminated in specifying particular air traffic rules in order that the term might be given the broadest possible construction by the Department of Commerce and the courts. Causby revolved over whether the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment applied to airspace above private property. . Expand the wire into a beam supported by posts standing upon abutting lots without touching the surface of plaintiff's land, and the difference would still be one of degree only.

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United States v. Causby :: 328 U.S. 256 (1946) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center

us vs causby

Flights over private land are not a taking, unless they are so low and so frequent as to be a direct and immediate interference with the enjoyment and use of the land. But the use of the airspace immediately above the land would limit the utility of the land and cause a diminution in its value. And at night the glare from the planes brightly lights up the place. Nor is there a finding as to whether the easement taken was temporary or permanent. Justice Douglas did reach that conclusion, but then he went much further and opined on what airspace landowners do and do not own. It is ancient doctrine that at common law ownership of the land extended to the periphery of the universe-Cujus But that general principle does not control the present case.

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