Land Grantors in Henderson, Union & Webster Counties v. United States

71 Fed. Cl. 614, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 177, 2006 WL 1737946
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJune 22, 2006
DocketNo. 93-648X
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 71 Fed. Cl. 614 (Land Grantors in Henderson, Union & Webster Counties v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Land Grantors in Henderson, Union & Webster Counties v. United States, 71 Fed. Cl. 614, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 177, 2006 WL 1737946 (uscfc 2006).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

BRADEN, Judge.

On May 1, 2002, the United States Court of Federal Claims substantially revised the rule for class action certification to conform to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“FRCP”) 23. See RCFC 23, Rules Comm. Note (“RCFC 23 has been completely rewritten. Although the court’s rule is modeled largely on the comparable FRCP [23], there are significant differences.”). RCFC 23 adopted the substantive criteria for certifying and maintaining a class action, set forth in Quinault Allottee Ass’n v. United States, 197 Ct.Cl. 134, 453 F.2d 1272 (1972), however, as Barnes v. United States, 68 Fed.Cl. 492 (2005) advised:

(i) the class must be large, but manageable; (ii) there must be a question of law common to the whole class; (iii) the common question of law must predominate over any separate factual issues affecting individual class members; (iv) the claims of named plaintiffs must be typical of the class; (v) the United States must have acted on grounds generally applicable to the whole class; (vi) the claims of many allottees must be so small that it is doubtful they would otherwise be pursued; (vii) the current plaintiffs must adequately and fairly protect the interests of the class without conflicts of interest; (viii) the prosecution of individual lawsuits must create a risk of inconsistent or varying adjudications. Consistent with the Committee Notes, various opinions view these factors as informing the prerequisites for class certification under RCFC 23. But, care must be taken lest the parallel to Quinault be carried too far, as the Committee Notes also indicate that the provisions of RCFC 23 are “modeled largely on the comparable [federal rule].” A careful comparison reveals that in some instances, RCFC 23 implicates factors not found in Quinault, e.g., whether “joinder of all members is impracticable,” while in others, Quinault imposes conditions not found in RCFC 23, e.g., that there must be a common legal question[ ] that joins the class.

Id. at 494-95 (internal citations omitted).

To date, the United States Court of Federal Claims has issued seven opinions analyzing revised RCFC 23.1 Although only two class actions have been certified since RCFC 23 was revised, class actions are not disfavored by the United States Court of Federal Claims. See Barnes, 68 Fed.Cl. at 493-501 (“If the proposition that class actions ‘are disfavored’ ever was valid, it certainly is no longer so now.”). Decisions not to certify reflect only the faithful application of RCFC 23 by the trial court to the particular facts of the case at issue, nothing more.

For the reasons discussed herein, in this ease, the court has determined that Plaintiffs have met the requirements of RCFC 23.

[617]*617RELEVANT FACTUAL BACKGROUND2

Shortly after the onset of World War II, the United States (“Government”) acquired approximately 35,849.28 acres of land in the counties of Henderson, Union, and Webster, Kentucky to establish an Army training facility, that later was named Camp Breckin-ridge. Almost all of this property was owned by farmers who resided on this land, which had been in the same families for generations and, more importantly, on which they depended for their livelihood. On March 7, 1942, the Secretary of War authorized the first of six condemnation proceedings that were filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky during 1942-1944. Once property became subject to condemnation proceedings, the landowners either could voluntarily negotiate a sale price with federal agents or require “just compensation” to be determined by a jury trial. The Government paid the landowners approximately $3,107,341 for fee simple title to all of the condemned properties, whether the price was negotiated or determined by a jury.3

By June 19, 1951, the Department of Defense (“DOD”) became aware that substantial gas and oil reserves might be located under the condemned properties and transferred oversight of these reserves to the Department of the Interior (“DOI”).4 In August 1956, DOI’s Geological Survey Office confirmed the existence of substantial oil and gas reserves under the condemned properties that were being drained by producing wells adjacent to Camp Breckinridge. On March 15, 1957, two former landowners of this property, together with several local officials, sent a letter of protest to DOI when they learned that DOI planned to lease a tract of 190 acres on the east boundary of Camp Breckinridge to two private oil companies “to protect the United States against loss by reason of the drainage of the oil and gas deposits.” The former landowners demanded that they receive the lease royalties and the right to repurchase their land, if it was declared surplus property. DOI summarily dismissed the protest. Subsequently, DOI received at least $1,833,815.73 in revenues from these leases during the period August 6,1957-April 30,1964.5

In December 1962, DOD declared Camp Breckinridge inactive and the land, together with the coal, gas, oil, and other mineral rights, were transferred to the General Services Administration (“GSA”) for disposal as surplus property. On or about April 15, 1966, GSA sold the coal rights in 30,540 acres to the Tennessee Valley Authority for $7,410,000. In addition, GSA sold all of the gas, oil, and other mineral rights underneath the condemned properties to private companies for approximately $24,572,547.70.6 For[618]*618mer landowners still living in the area were outraged when they learned that the Government was profiting from selling coal, gas, oil, and other mineral rights, in light of the fact that they were paid nothing for their coal, gas, oil, and other mineral rights or a de minimus amount for existing leases when their land was condemned in 1942-1944. This situation provoked one former landowner to file an ill-fated suit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, on behalf of himself and other former landowners, that was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds before a class was certified or any discovery could be taken. See Higginson v. United States, No.2074 (W.D.Ky. Sep. 7, 1965) (unpublished). The appellate courts correctly upheld the trial court’s jurisdictional ruling because the suit improperly was filed pursuant to the Surplus Property Act of 1944, 58 Stat. 765, a law that was repealed by the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, 40 U.S.C. §§ 471, et seq., well before the suit was filed. Id.; see also Higginson v. United States, 384 F.2d 504 (6th Cir.1967), cert. denied, 390 U.S. 947, 88 S.Ct. 1034, 19 L.Ed.2d 1137 (1968).

On or about August 24, 1967, GSA also sold coal rights on an additional 3,930 acres of the condemned properties.7

The manner in which GSA sold the condemned property also angered many of the former landowners, particularly those who were under the impression that the Government had promised to give them a right of first refusal, if the land was ever sold.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
71 Fed. Cl. 614, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 177, 2006 WL 1737946, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/land-grantors-in-henderson-union-webster-counties-v-united-states-uscfc-2006.