Turner v. United States

Background

Clarence W. Turner and associates arranged under Creek Nation law to hold large grazing pastures in the Deep Fork district. They contracted to enclose about 256,000 acres and built an approximately 80-mile fence. Before the fence was finished, three bands of Creek Indians destroyed it. Turner lost more than $10,000 on construction and sought compensation of $105,698.03. The Creek National Council once voted to pay, but Chief Perryman vetoed the payment and the veto stood. The tribal government was dissolved in 1906.

Reasoning

Turner sued in the Court of Claims after Congress in 1908 authorized that court to consider his claim against the Creek Nation and the United States as trustee. The Court held that under the general law the Creek Nation was not liable for injuries caused by mob violence and that a single official’s wrongful action did not create broader government liability. The 1908 Act was read as giving a forum to decide Turner’s existing rights, not as creating any new substantive right to recover. The Court also found the United States could not be sued without clear consent and was improperly joined as a defendant.

Real world impact

The ruling means people who suffer private losses from mob violence in the Creek Nation cannot recover from the Nation under general law unless Congress clearly creates a substantive right to compensation. It confirms that Congress must specifically authorize and create a right to recover, not merely authorize a court to hear a claim, and that the United States cannot be forced into suit as trustee without explicit permission.