Petition For Writ of Certiorari, Goldenberg v. Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co., LLC, No. 18-1174 (Mar. 6, 2019)
Petition For Writ of Certiorari, Goldenberg v. Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co., LLC, No. 18-1174 (Mar. 6, 2019)
Petition For Writ of Certiorari, Goldenberg v. Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co., LLC, No. 18-1174 (Mar. 6, 2019)
18-_____
In the
Supreme Court of the United States
TRANSCONTINENTAL
GAS PIPE LINE COMPANY, LLC,
Respondent.
QUESTION PRESENTED
The Court has long emphasized the strict construc-
tion of condemnation statutes, especially as against
corporate delegatees of this sovereign power. By the plain,
undisputed terms of the Natural Gas Act, 15 U.S.C.
§ 717f(h), a pipeline company obtains title and any
incident rights of possession in property it seeks to
condemn only upon entry of judgment and payment
of compensation in such an action. A growing number
of Circuits have nevertheless upheld grants of full
possession to pipeline companies at the outset of these
actions through mandatory preliminary injunctions—
the Seventh Circuit has demurred. In this case, the
Eleventh Circuit further expanded the reach of these
injunctions in holding that a pipeline company need
not even pay estimated just compensation, by posting
a cash bond, before obtaining possession. As a result,
Petitioners have now been deprived of their property
without any compensation for over two years, even as
Respondent profits from its use—pumping as much
as 44.8 million cubic feet of natural gas through it
every day. This case thus raises an important and
frequently recurring issue never addressed by the
Court as to the constitutional limits of equitable pro-
cedures in eminent domain actions at law.
THE SPECIFIC QUESTION PRESENTED IS:
Whether a judicially-conferred right of possession
to a pipeline company before judgment and without
compensation in a Natural Gas Act taking improperly
invades the exclusive authority of Congress to legislate
how eminent domain is exercised and violates the just
compensation clause.
ii
PETITIONERS
Ian S. Goldenberg.
Handy Land and Timber L.P.
Christine Marie Cali
Gene A. Terrell
Joyce Bailey Terrell
Thomas W. Smrcina
Jeannie F. Smrcina
Donald Morris
RESPONDENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued
Page
Rees v. City of Watertown, 19 Wall. 107,
22 L.Ed. 72, 86 U.S. 107 (1873) ........................... 14
S. Natural Gas v. 2.0 Acres Cullman County,
197 F.3d 1368 (11th Cir. 1999) ........................... 4
Secombe v. R.R. Co.,
90 U.S. 108 (1874) ............................................. 11
Sweet v. Rechel,
159 U.S. 380 (1895) ...................................... 18, 19
Transwestern Pipeline v. 17.19 Acres of Property,
550 F.3d 770 (9th Cir. 2008).............................. 2, 3
United States v. Carmack,
329 U.S. 230 (1946) ........................................... 12
W. Union Tel. Co. v. Penn. R. Co.,
195 U.S. 540 (1904) ............................................. 12
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer,
343 U.S. 579 (1952) ........................................... 11
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
U.S. Const. Amend. V ..................................... 1, 18, 19
STATUTES
15 U.S.C. § 717f(h) ............................................. passim
28 U.S.C. § 1254(1) ..................................................... 1
28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1).................................................. 9
40 U.S.C. § 3118 .......................................................... 3
viii
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued
Page
JUDICIAL RULES
Fed. R. Civ. P. 65 ................................................ 1, 6, 13
Fed. R. Civ. P. 71.1 .......................................... 2, 4, 13
Sup. Ct. R. 29.6 .......................................................... iii
PUBLICATIONS
Pub. L. 100–474, § 2,
Oct. 6, 1988, 102 Stat. 2302 ................................ 4
Pub. L. 95–617, Title VI, § 608,
Nov. 9, 1978, 92 Stat. 3173 ................................. 4
OTHER AUTHORITIES
Robert Meltz,
Delegation of the Federal Power of
Eminent Domain to Nonfederal Entities,
Cong. Research Serv., RS2288
(May 20, 2008) ................................................... 12
The Anti-Federalist No. 82 (Brutus) ....................... 20
1
OPINIONS BELOW
The opinion of the Eleventh Circuit Court of
Appeals is found at Appendix, App.1a. The order of
the United States District Court for the Northern
District of Georgia granting Transcontinental Pipe
Line Company LLC’s motions for partial summary
judgment and preliminary injunction is found at
App.88a.
JURISDICTION
Petitioner seeks review of the decision of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
entered on December 6, 2018. This Court’s jurisdiction
rests on 28 U.S.C. § 1254(1).
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION,
STATUTES, AND JUDICIAL RULES
The following provisions are presented in the
appendix:
U.S. Const. Amend. V (App.119a)
15 U.S.C. § 717f—Construction, Extension, or
Abandonment of Facilities (App.119a)
Fed. R. Civ. P. 65—Injunctions and Restraining
Orders (App.125a)
2
CONCLUSION
For all these reasons, this Court should grant the
petition.
Respectfully submitted,
THOMAS H. CAMP
THE CAMP FIRM, LLC
P.O. BOX 2349
NEWNAN, GA 30264
(678) 464-1366
HARRY@THECAMPFIRM.COM
MARCH 6, 2019