Overview
Case summary
Benjamin Healey sought to recover half of the purchase price paid for desert land, contending that the $2.50 per acre rate charged by the General Land Office under Revised Statutes § 2357 was inapplicable to his entry. The Court of Claims ruled in favor of the claimant, finding the higher price inapplicable and allowing recovery despite the lack of protest. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the law in force at the time of the entry governed the price and that the subsequent Act of 1891 did not retroactively lower the price for pending entries.
Abstract
Claimant sought to recover half the purchase price paid for desert land, arguing that a higher rate per acre charged by the General Land Office was inapplicable to the entry. The Court of Claims ruled in favor of recovery despite no protest, but the Supreme Court reversed, holding that the price was governed by the law in force at the time of entry and that a subsequent act did not retroactively lower the price for pending entries. The judgment of the Court of Claims was reversed.
Opinion of the court
opinionMr. Justice Harlan
- The Act of 1891 does not apply retroactively to desert land entries initiated before its passage.
- The price of alternate reserved railroad lands is governed by the law in effect at the time of the entry.
Procedural posture
Legal categories
Case record
Issues & holdings
de novo
The Supreme Court held that the law in force at the time of entry governed the price, and the act of 1891 did not retroactively authorize a lower price for proceedings begun before its passage.
Holdings of the court
Timeline
No timeline recorded.
Facts & evidence
Incident
Key facts
5 facts- Claimant filed a declaration of intention to reclaim a tract of desert land.
- The land was part of the alternate reserved sections along a railroad line.
- The General Land Office required a payment of $2.50 per acre under Revised Statutes § 2357.
- Claimant paid the $2.50 per acre without protest.
- Claimant later sought to recover half of the purchase money, arguing the price should have been $1.25 per acre.
Authorities
Statutes
- Revised Statutes § 2357
- Desert Land Act of 1877
- Act of 1891