Halpert v. Udall

231 F. Supp. 574, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6644
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedJuly 10, 1964
Docket614-62-Civil-EC
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 231 F. Supp. 574 (Halpert v. Udall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Halpert v. Udall, 231 F. Supp. 574, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6644 (S.D. Fla. 1964).

Opinions

JONES, Circuit Judge:

The plaintiffs are the owners of a two-hundred-acre tract of land in Dade County, Florida, which they acquired in 1956.

In 1929 the Congress authorized the Secretary of the Interior to investigate the desirability and practicability of establishing a national park in the Everglades of Florida. 45 Stat. 1443. In the same year the Florida Legislature created an Everglades National Park Commission to acquire title to lands and transfer land to the United States for a park in the Everglades. Power was given to the United States to acquire such lands and “to pass such laws and make or provide for the making of such rules or regulations of both civil and criminal nature, and to provide punishment therefor as in its judgment may be necessary for the management, control, and protection of such lands as may be acquired by the United States under the provisions of this Act.” Laws of Florida, Acts of 1929, Ch. 13887. On several occasions the Florida Legislature amended and supplemented1 the 1929 Act. In 1961, the Florida Legislature, by a statute reciting that the Florida Commission had accomplished its purpose, repealed all of the then operative legislation.2

In the 1934 Act exclusive jurisdiction, with exceptions not here pertinent, was ceded to the United States over all territory deeded or conveyed to the United States. Ch. 16996, supra, § 4, amending Ch. 13887, supra, § 12. The 1947 statute made the provisions applicable not only to lands conveyed to the United States by the Florida Commission, but also to “all lands acquired for national park purposes within the present and future boundaries of the Everglades National Park by the United States of America through and by purchase, grant, condemnation, donation or any other lawful means.” Ch. 23910, supra. Thus it appears that the Florida Legislature-had not ceded jurisdiction and sovereignty over any lands which had not been acquired by the United States.

In 1934, the Congress authorized the-establishment of Everglades National'. Park where title to all the lands within the area recommended by the Secretary of the Interior had been vested in the-United States, with a proviso that no-land for the park should be accepted “until exclusive jurisdiction over the entire park area, in form satisfactory to the-Secretary of the Interior, shall have been ceded by the State of Florida to the United States.” 16 U.S.C.A. §§ 410, 410a. The park was established and was-dedicated by President Truman in 1947. Dovell, Florida 850-851. Another federal statute was passed in 1958. It changed the park boundaries. Some lands formerly within the park were excluded. Some lands not previously in the park were included. It was provided that property within the revised boundary [576]*576should continue to be administered as Everglades National Park, but property not in federal ownership “shall be administered as a part of the park only after being acquired” as provided by the Act. 16 U.S.C.A. § 410i. Authorization was given to the Secretary of the Interior to acquire lands held in private ownership within the park boundaries and an appropriation of $2,000,000 was made for that purpose. 16 U.S.C.A. §§ 410i, 410p. The authorization for the acquisition was restricted by a proviso that no parcel within a specifically described area “shall be acquired without the consent of its owner so long as it is used exclusively for agricultural purposes, including housing, directly incident thereto, or is lying fallow or remains in its natural state.” 16 U.S.C.A. § 410j. The lands of the plaintiffs are within the area covered by the proviso.

The plaintiffs bring this action against Stewart L. Udall, individually and as Secretary of the Interior, and by their complaint invoke jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.A. § 1331, stating that the matter in controversy exceeds a value of $10,000 and arises under the Constitution and laws of the United States. Diversity jurisdiction is also claimed under 28 U.S.C.A. § 1332. The complaint alleges that by the Federal statutes plaintiffs’ lands are “within the boundary and area” of the park with title remaining in the plaintiffs, that the Secretary is authorized but not required to purchase plaintiffs’ land, and that the Secretary can acquire the land only with plaintiffs’ •consent unless they improve it for a non-agrieultural use, in which event the Secretary may acquire it by eminent domain. This, say the plaintiffs, has resulted in a deprivation of their property without due process of law in violation of the Fifth Amendment. By their prayer the plaintiffs seek a decree quieting their title free from any restriction arising under the statute, a declaration that the Act of Congress of 1958 be declared unconstitutional as an encumbrance against plaintiffs’ land, and restraining the Secretary from taking the position that plaintiffs’ lands are within the park and can be used only for agricultural purposes under pain of eminent domain if otherwise used.

By an amendment to their complaint the plaintiffs assert that the defendant closed a public highway which had been in use for over thirty years and had abutted the plaintiffs’ lands. It was said that persons using the road were required to pass a control and identification point established by the defendant. The road, say the plaintiffs, is in a state of disrepair and hazardous to use. The prayer of the amendment seeks the removal of the barrier on the highway and the elimination of the checkpoint. The plaintiffs ask that the defendant be required to maintain the highway in a reasonably safe condition for travel by the public. Although by their pleading the plaintiffs ask that the Secretary be required to maintain the highway, their brief asserts that they do not request maintenance of the highway and that the question as to who has the duty to maintain is not an issue. The brief, which is not, of course, a pleading and does not serve the purpose of a pleading, says that a mandatory injunction should issue requiring the Secretary to restore the highway to the condition it was in immediately prior to its “obliteration.” We are uninformed as to what is meant by obliteration. The word was used by plaintiffs’ counsel in cross-examining a former Superintendent of the park, who repeated the word. In view of the testimony of this witness that the highway now is in about the same condition as it was in 1958, we assume that the erection of the barricade is what is meant by obliteration. The three-judge court was constituted before the amendment to the complaint was filed.

We first consider the highway question. The evidence, which was rather inconclusive, showed that the highway, known as Ingraham Highway, was a Florida State Highway. It extended from Miami, on the Atlantic Coast, to Cape Sable, on the Gulf Coast, traversing [577]*577lands which now comprise the southerly-part of the park. It is presently open and maintained by the State to the plaintiffs’ lands and runs along their south boundary. The portion of the highway which plaintiffs want the Secretary to restore runs through lands within the park owned by the United States over which the State has ceded jurisdiction. The State has conveyed to the United States all the land owned by it within the park boundaries. The portion of the highway which has been closed is wholly within the park. The State of Florida might contend that it did not convey title or cede jurisdiction of the highway to the United States. Cf. Colorado v. Toll, 268 U.S. 228, 45 S.Ct. 505, 69 L.Ed. 927. But it has made no such contention.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State, Department of Transportation v. Gayety Theatres, Inc.
781 So. 2d 1125 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2001)
Palm Beach County v. Tessler
538 So. 2d 846 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1989)
Althaus v. United States
7 Cl. Ct. 688 (Court of Claims, 1985)
Georgia-Pacific Corp. v. United States
640 F.2d 328 (Court of Claims, 1980)
Benenson v. United States
548 F.2d 939 (Court of Claims, 1977)
United States v. Brown
431 F. Supp. 56 (D. Minnesota, 1976)
Pinellas County v. Austin
323 So. 2d 6 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1975)
Halpert v. Udall
231 F. Supp. 574 (S.D. Florida, 1964)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
231 F. Supp. 574, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6644, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/halpert-v-udall-flsd-1964.