CUYAHOGA RIVER POWER COMPANY
v.
CITY OF AKRON
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A hydroelectric power company incorporated in Ohio sought to prevent the city of Akron from appropriating waters of the Cuyahoga River where the company claimed it had acquired property rights and begun development. The Supreme Court reversed the dismissal for lack of jurisdiction, holding that the case presented a federal question because the city's alleged intent to take the company's property without compensation raised constitutional issues under the Takings Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment, requiring the district court to address the merits of the dispute.
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Mr. Justice Holmes delivered the opinion of the court.
This is a bill in equity brought by an Ohio corporation against a city of Ohio to prevent the latter from appropriating the waters of the Cuyahoga River and its tributaries above a certain point. It alleges that the plaintiff was incorporated under the laws of Ohio for the purpose of generating hydro-electric power by means of dams and canals upon the said River, and of disposing of the same; that it has adopted surveys, maps, plans and profiles to that end, has entered upon, located and defined, the property rights required, has instituted condemnation proceedings to acquire a part at least of such property, has sold bonds and spent large sums and has gained a paramount right to the water and necessary land. The bill also alleges that the City has passed an ordinance appropriating the water and directing its solicitor to take proceedings in court for the assessment of the compensation to be paid. The District Court dismissed the bill for want of jurisdiction on the ground that it presented no Federal question, because if the plaintiff had any rights they could be appropriated only by paying for them in pursuance of the verdict of a jury and a judgment of a court. It made the statutory certificate and the case comes here by direct appeal. 210 Fed. Rep. 524.
It appears to us that sufficient attention was not paid to other allegations of the bill. After setting out various passages from the statutes and constitution of Ohio and concluding that the City has no constitutional power to take the property and franchises that the plaintiff is alleged to own or any property for a water supply, it alleges that the City does not intend to institute any proceedings against'the plaintiff but intends to take its property and rights without compensation; that it is building a dam and has taken steps that will destroy the-plaintiff's rights; that it is insolvent; that the purpose of the ordinance and certain statutes referred to is to appropriate and destroy those rights without compensation; that the defendant purports to be acting under the ordinance, and that in so acting it violates Article I, § 10, and the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the, United States. It is established that such action is to be regarded as the action of the State. Raymond v. Chicago Union Traction Co., 207 U. S. 20. Home Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Los Angeles, 227 U. S. 278. Whether the plaintiff has any rights that the City is bound to respect can be decided only by - taking jurisdiction of the case; and the same is true of other questions raised. Therefore it will be necessary for the District Court to deal with the merits, and to that end the decree must be reversed.
Decree reversed.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (18 total)
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Screws v. United States, 325 U.S. 91 (U.S. 1945)…. S. 3, 15-18; Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Chicago, 166 U. S. 226, 233-234; Raymond v. Chicago Traction Co., 207 U. S. 20, 35-37; Ex parte Young, 209 U. S. 123; Home Tel. & Tel. Co. v. Los Angeles, 227 U. S. 278, 288-289; Cuyahoga Power Co. v. Akron, 240 U. S. 462; Fidelity & Deposit Co. v. Tafoya, 270 U. S. 426, 434; Hopkins v. Southern California Telephone Co., 275 U. S. 393, 398; Iowa-Des Moines Bank v. Bennett, 284 U. S. 239, 245-246; Nixon v. Condon, 286 U. S. 73, 89; Mosher v. City of Phoenix, 287 U. S.…
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Lovell v. City of Griffin, 303 U.S. 444 (U.S. 1938)…pted under state authority constitute state action and are within the prohibition of the amendment. Raymond v. Chicago Union Traction Co., 207 U. S. 20; Home Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Los Angeles, 227 U. S. 278; Cuyahoga River Power Co. v. Akron, 240 U. S. 462. The ordinance in its broad sweep prohibits the distribution of “circulars, handbooks, advertising, or literature of any kind.” It manifestly applies to pamphlets, magazines and periodicals. The evidence against appellant was that she distributed a…
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Iowa-Des Moines Nat'l Bank v. Bennett, 284 U.S. 239 (U.S. 1931)…o., 196 U. S. 599, 609; Hayman v. Galveston, 273 U. S. 414, 416. Neal v. Delaware, 103 U. S. 370, 397; Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U. S. 356, 373, 374; Home Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Los Angeles, 227 U. S. 278, 287, 288; Cuyahoga Power Co. v. Akron, 240 U. S. 462, 464. Compare Raymond v. Chicago Union Traction Co., supra; Greene v. Louisville & Interurban R. Co., 244 U. S. 499, 507, 508; Fidelity & Deposit Co. v. Tafoya, 270 U. S. 426, 434; Hopkins v. Southern California Telephone Co., 275 U. S. 393, 398. Se…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Home Tel. & Tel. Co. v. City of Los Angeles, 227 U.S. 278 (U.S. 1913)
- Raymond v. Chicago Union Traction Co., 207 U.S. 20 (U.S. 1907)