United States v. Causby

Background

Nearby chicken farmers sued after military airplanes using a leased airport flew very low over their land. The farmers said the planes frightened the birds, reduced fertility, and caused some chickens to crash into buildings and die. The Court of Claims had allowed recovery for a taking of an easement, and the Supreme Court reviewed that judgment and sent the case back for clearer factual findings.

Reasoning

The key question was whether low and frequent government flights that interfere directly with using land amount to a taking under the Fifth Amendment, requiring payment. The Court said yes when flights are so low and frequent that they destroy the owner’s ability to use the land for its intended purpose. The opinion explains that fair market value is the normal way to measure compensation, that owners control the airspace they can occupy or use, and that flight claims are constitutional claims the Court of Claims can decide. The Court also said missing factual findings cannot be supplied by an opinion and refused to reweigh the evidence itself.

Real world impact

The decision allows landowners who lose the use of their land because of very low, repeated government flights to seek just compensation. It requires courts to make clear factual findings about how often and how low flights occurred and to measure damages by market value, including alternative uses of the land. Because the Court remanded for additional findings, the final amount of compensation was not decided here.

Dissents or concurrances

A dissenting Justice argued there was no taking in the constitutional sense and would have reversed the award. One Justice did not participate.