Borden Ranch Partnership v. Army Corps of Engineers

Background

A partnership called Borden Ranch Partnership was in a legal dispute with the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The case reached the Supreme Court from the Ninth Circuit, was argued on December 10, 2002, and decided on December 16, 2002. Numerous amici — including several state attorneys general, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Association of Home Builders, and the National Wildlife Federation — filed briefs supporting both sides.

Reasoning

The Court’s formal statement in this opinion is a brief per curiam announcement: “The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court.” The opinion text does not include a signed majority opinion explaining the Court’s legal reasoning, and it expressly notes that Justice Kennedy took no part in consideration or decision of the case. The text therefore records an evenly split vote among the participating Justices and an affirmance of the lower-court judgment without a full majority explanation in this opinion.

Real world impact

Because the Supreme Court affirmed by an equally divided Court, the Ninth Circuit’s judgment remains in effect for the parties in this dispute between the partnership and the Army Corps. The many friend-of-the-court briefs show competing interests from states, industry groups, and environmental organizations, but this per curiam announcement does not include a detailed explanation of the Court’s legal conclusions. The decision resolves this case between these parties as the Ninth Circuit decided, based on the compact statement in the opinion text.