General Box Co. v. United States

Background

General Box Company owned commercially valuable trees growing on batture, the land between low and high water on the Mississippi River in Louisiana. The United States, working with the local Levee Board, authorized contractors to enlarge a levee and clear the batture. The contractors bulldozed the standing timber without giving notice to the timber owner. General Box sued the United States under a federal statute seeking the value of the destroyed timber; a trial judge awarded damages, but the Court of Appeals reversed.

Reasoning

The central question was whether the United States must pay for timber cleared from batture when Louisiana law gives the State a broad servitude to use batture for levees. The Court accepted the Court of Appeals’ reading of Louisiana law that the State’s ancient levee servitude allows it to appropriate batture first and seek remedies later, and that local Levee Boards may donate those rights to the United States. Because Louisiana could have lawfully destroyed the timber without compensation, the United States, having received those rights, was not liable for the loss. The Court therefore affirmed the judgment relieving the United States of payment.

Real world impact

Property owners who hold timber or other interests on batture in Louisiana can face removal of those interests for levee projects without compensation if the State’s servitude is applied. Local levee authorities can provide rights-of-way to the federal government for flood control projects, and contractors carrying out those projects may clear batture without paying owners. The decision rests on the Court’s interpretation of Louisiana law and does not resolve other constitutional claims not pressed here.

Dissents or concurrances

A dissent argued that Louisiana law and an experienced local judge required notice so owners could salvage timber, and a concurrence suggested the Court could have sought an authoritative state-court ruling before deciding.