United States v. 50 Acres of Land et al.
Decided December 4, 1984. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 83-1170 · 469 U.S. 24 (1984) · Cited 189 times
Holding
The Fifth Amendment does not require that the United States pay a public condemnee compensation measured by the cost of acquiring a substitute facility that the condemnee has a duty to acquire, when the market value of the condemned property is ascertainable and when there is no showing of manifest injustice.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 9–0.
Majority · 7
- John Paul Stevens · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Byron Raymond White
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- Thurgood Marshall
- Warren Earl Burger
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
- William Joseph Brennan Jr.
Concurring · 2
- Lewis Franklin Powell Jr.
- Sandra Day O'Connor · filed a concurring opinion
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- United States v. 564.54 Acres of Monroe and Pike County Land · 441 U.S. 506 (1979)
- Brown v. United States · 263 U.S. 78 (1923)
- Olson v. United States · 292 U.S. 246 (1934)
- United States v. General Motors Corp. · 323 U.S. 373 (1945)
- Kirby Forest Industries, Inc. v. United States · 467 U.S. 1 (1984)
- Kimball Laundry Co. v. United States · 338 U.S. 1 (1949)
- United States v. Commodities Trading Corp. · 339 U.S. 121 (1950)
- United States v. Miller · 317 U.S. 369 (1943)
- Block v. North Dakota Ex Rel. Board of University & School Lands · 461 U.S. 273 (1983)
- Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff · 467 U.S. 229 (1984)
- United States v. Carmack · 329 U.S. 230 (1946)
- United States v. Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Navigation Co. · 338 U.S. 396 (1949)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Horne v. Department of Agriculture · 576 U.S. 351 (2015)
- Williamson County Regional Planning Commission v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City · 473 U.S. 172 (1985)
- Brown v. Legal Foundation of Washington · 538 U.S. 216 (2003)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
John Paul Stevens’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1984). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).