Commers v. United States

66 F. Supp. 943, 1946 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2455
CourtDistrict Court, D. Montana
DecidedJuly 25, 1946
Docket276
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 66 F. Supp. 943 (Commers v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Montana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commers v. United States, 66 F. Supp. 943, 1946 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2455 (D. Mont. 1946).

Opinion

BROWN, District Judge.

Petitioner filed his amended petition for a declaratory judgment, alleging that he is a native born citizen of the. United States and a resident of Helena, Montana; that the United States, acting under the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, 50 3U.S.C.A. Appendix, § 301 et seq., drafted bnÍP-ííiffi tbe military serv'ce °f the country October, 1942; that he ji8SB^.sS%p5|rvice until tbe 6th day of August, 1945; that ujjon being selected he took his basic training in infantry in the United States; that he w80£tf®rgafter as-XÉ¡ign§d£t¡i> íteíSxfMTSMíMms&flttel^nited 8s4aje%gAipyO fyM- g®tlbdhaib&iBtsi(2&u&e was sent to the Pacific theater of rji&Sifón the 20th day of September, 1943, and took part in several major eng^fi^n^^ailfst ffiliSH&ter of ri$tó??oé«Btíi«l£P¿I,iy flíit&pig °WEH'®?d ?Acñffilt tktf&lfci'g rÍMñe gainful occupation! £aá®nj%gHaj.!Iiv^iíjísAco.|i!¿iB«S^ifiFíi?SA11in$?á BMsíg kÍFPnducmonth and is now receiving from the Veterans Administration of the United States the sum of $34.50 a month for his disabilities. He alleges his taking into the Army by the United States constituted slavery and involuntary servitude condemned by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution; that his body was his private property and could not be taken without just compensation under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, and that he has a right to maintain the action against the United States without specific consent on its part to be sued other than the consent implied from the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. He prays for a declaratory judgment of the Court, construing the Fifth, Seventh and Thirteenth Amendments to the Constitution, and declaring that his induction into the Army constituted a taking of his body, and its earning power, his private property, for public use and for which he was entitled to just compensation under the Fifth Amendment; that he has a right to ■a trial by jury in this coúrt for a determination of the compensation to be paid him.

The respondent has filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds (1) that the amended petition fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, and (2) the Court is without jurisdiction to hear and determine this cause for that the United States cannot be sued without its consent and that such consent has not been given.

Extensive oral argument was had before the Court by counsel for the respective parties and a voluminous brief filed. The theory of the petitioner seems to be set out in the following paragraphs of his complaint, which read:

“XV. That by reason of the foregoing, petitioner has been damaged beyond the power of respondent to restore; but that he has been damaged financially to the extent of the cost of a comfortable livelihood, comparable to*feat enjoyed by the average citizen in comf^ijgJ^e^financial circum3$aWi; or benefisi.such -áfKñlifiñ ¡B llktip-íikte íffiSf^ifeiqnioa oí Bifntsiq aljhrra oí as

*945 “XVIII. That the body of petitioner was taken by respondent by virtue of said acts of Congress, and acting through its War Department and the officers and agents thereof, for a public use, to-wit: the defense of the United States against its enemies, and was used by said respondent for such purpose, and as the direct result of such use the body of petitioner has been injured and damaged and his earning power destroyed as herein set forth;”

“XXIII. That under the pronouncement contained in said Declaration of Independence, and under said constitution and the amendments thereto above set forth or referred to, the body of petitioner is his own, and the earning power of his body is his property, and not the property of the United States or of any other group of its citizens ; that under the institutions of liberty established by the Constitution each citizen has equal right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and each citizen has an equal share in the sovereignty of the United States; that when in the course of human events a part of such citizens are required by law to sacrifice their liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the integrity of their bodies, in the common defense, they do not thereby become the slaves, serfs, or chattels of those who do not fight; to be 'Sacrificed without obligation; but under the compact under which we live, those disabled in the common defense are entitled, not only as a matter of natural right, as between sovereigns, but by the express terms of the Fifth Amendment to said constitution, to be restored as near as may be to a dignified and honorable status among the sovereign people of this democracy, and to just compensation; and they also have the right, as a corollary to the main proposition, to the due process of law and the jury trial in establishing that obligation, guaranteed by said constitution and its amendments;”

“XXVII. That the expenditure of the bodily integrity of man and of his earning power in battle or in any other type of military service in time of war is the taking of private property for a public use, for which the respondent is required to make just compensation under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, the same as for earning power in the form of ships, planes, guns, or other processed articles of merchandise, or material of war;”

“XXX. That no consent to be sued, other than the consent implied from the Fifth Amendment, is necessary to entitle petitioner to maintain this action; that moreover, this is not an action for a specific recovery against the respondent, but is a proceeding for a judgment of this Court construing the constitutional provisions herein referred to; that this Court is a Court of general jurisdiction in all matters arising under the constitution or laws of the United States, and has jurisdiction to entertain this action.”

The petitioner apparently bases his right to maintain this action upon the theory that his body is private property; that it is owned by him and such being true it falls within the purview of that portion «¡1 the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution which provides: “Nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” Counsel for petitioner have cited no authority holding that since the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution the body of a human being within the United States is that character of private property referred to in the Constitutional Amendment, or is subject to private ownership. The argument advanced, that the body of the petitioner is private property owned by him which could not be taken for public use without just compensation, is pregnant with the admission that his body owned by him is private property which could be taken for public use upon the payment of just compensation. The taking of the character of private property contemplated by the Fifth Amendment for public use upon the payment of compensation is a taking not limited to times of war, but the right may be exercised equally as lawfully under the Constitution by the United States in times of peace, and to assert that one’s body is private property that may be taken by the United States for any governmental purpose of any kind upon the payment of just compensation is to contend for something so far contrary to our theory or government, the relationship of the government and citizens as to be untenable.

*946 In adopting the Constitution the people authorized the Congress to raise and support armies. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 12.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
66 F. Supp. 943, 1946 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2455, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commers-v-united-states-mtd-1946.