United States Court of Claims
Encyclopedia
The Court of Claims was a federal court that heard claims against the United States government. It was established in 1855 as the Court of Claims, renamed in 1948 to the United States Court of Claims , and abolished in 1982.
Before the Court of Claims was established, monetary claims against the federal government were normally submitted through petitions to Congress. By the time of the Court's creation, this workload had become unwieldy, so Congress gave the Court jurisdiction to hear all monetary claims based upon a law, a regulation, or a federal government contract
. The Court was required to report its findings to Congress and to prepare bills for payments to claimants whose petitions were approved by the Court; since only Congress was constitutionally empowered to make appropriations, Congress still had to approve these bills and reports, but it usually did so pro forma
.
The Court originally had three judges, who were given lifetime appointments. The judges were authorized to appoint commissioners to take depositions and issue subpoenas. The federal government was represented in the Court by a solicitor appointed by the President.
.
In 1861, Abraham Lincoln
in his Annual Message to Congress
asked that the court be given the power to issue final judgments. Congress granted this power with the Act of March 3, 1863 , and explicitly made the judgments appealable to the Supreme Court
. However, it also modified the law governing the Court so that its reports and bills were sent to the Department of the Treasury
rather than directly to Congress. The moneys to cover these costs were then made a part of the appropriation for the Treasury Department.
The conflict inherent between these two provisions was made manifest when in 1864, the decision in Gordon v. United States was appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court denied that it had jurisdiction, because the decisions of the Court of Claims, hence any appeals, were subject to review by an executive department. Less than a year later, Congress passed a law removing review of the Court of Claims from the Treasury Department.
, which further restricted the claims that could be submitted directly to Congress, requiring that these claims instead be submitted to the Court of Claims. It broadened the court's jurisdiction so that “claims founded upon the Constitution” could be heard. In particular, this meant that monetary claims based on takings under the eminent domain
clause of the Fifth Amendment
could be brought before the Court of Claims. The Tucker Act also opened the Court to tax refund suits.
Depredations against American shipping committed by the French during the Quasi-War
of 1793 to 1800 led to claims against France that were relinquished by the terms of the Treaty of 1800
. Since the claims against France were no longer valid, claimants continually petitioned Congress for the relief that had been waived by the treaty. It wasn’t until January 20, 1885 that a law was passed, 23 Stat. 283, that provided for consideration of the matter before the Court of Claims. The lead case, Gray v. United States, 21 Ct. Cl. 340, written by Judge John Davis, includes a complete discussion of the historical and political circumstances which led to the hostilities between the United States and France and their resolution by treaty. The cases, termed "French Spoliation Claims", continued in the court until 1915.
In 1925, Congress changed the structure of the Court of Claims by authorizing the Court to appoint seven commissioners who were empowered to hear evidence in judicial proceedings and report on findings of fact. The judges of the Court of Claims would then serve as a board of review for the commissioners.
In 1932, Congress reduced the salary of the judges of the Court of Claims as part of the Legislative Appropriation Act of 1932. Thomas Sutler Williams
was one of the judges of the Court, and he sued the federal government, claiming that his salary could not be cut because the Constitution specified that judicial salaries could not be reduced. The Supreme Court ruled on Williams v. United States in 1933, deciding that the Court of Claims was an Article I or legislative court
, and that therefore Congress had the authority to reduce the salaries of the judges of the Court of Claims.
Beginning in 1948, Congress directed that when directed by the court, the commissioner could make recommendations for conclusions of law . Chief Judge Wilson Cowen
made this mandatory under the court rules in 1964.
court. That act also raised the number of commissioners to 15. In spite of this Congressional statement of the Court's status, when Judge J. Warren Madden
was sitting by designation with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
, one of the parties asked that the decision be thrown out, on the basis that Madden wasn't a valid judge in that court. On appeal, the Supreme Court, in Glidden Co. v. Zdanok, held that the Court of Claims was a proper constitutional, Article III, court and that its judges could sit by designation and assignment on other courts. Ironically, the judges could no longer sit on Congressional reference cases because of this change, since an independent court could not act in an advisory role to Congress. The solution, enacted by Congress in 1966, was to have the trial judges hear the cases upon assignment by the chief judge of the trial division.
Two more judges were added to the court in 1966, bringing the total to seven.
Congress terminated the Indian Claims Commission in 1978 and required that any pending cases be transferred to the Court of Claims. Of the 170 cases so transferred many were complicated longstanding accounting claims that had been before the Commission for years. One of the most famous of these cases was United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians
, which ultimately reached the Supreme Court. Aside from its large judgment awarded to the Sioux, the case also featured interesting questions about judicial power and the ability of Congress to waive the Federal government's legal defense of res judicata
to allow a claim to be judicially determined.
) and its appellate jurisdiction to the equally new United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
. By this time, the Court had expanded to have seven judges; they were transferred to the Federal Circuit.
Before the Court of Claims was established, monetary claims against the federal government were normally submitted through petitions to Congress. By the time of the Court's creation, this workload had become unwieldy, so Congress gave the Court jurisdiction to hear all monetary claims based upon a law, a regulation, or a federal government contract
Government contracts
Government procurement in the United States is based on many of the same principles as commercial contracting, but is subject to special laws and regulation as described below....
. The Court was required to report its findings to Congress and to prepare bills for payments to claimants whose petitions were approved by the Court; since only Congress was constitutionally empowered to make appropriations, Congress still had to approve these bills and reports, but it usually did so pro forma
Pro forma
The term pro forma is a term applied to practices or documents that are done as a pure formality, perfunctory, or seek to satisfy the minimum requirements or to conform to a convention or doctrine...
.
The Court originally had three judges, who were given lifetime appointments. The judges were authorized to appoint commissioners to take depositions and issue subpoenas. The federal government was represented in the Court by a solicitor appointed by the President.
Establishment of the Court
The Court of Claims was established in 1855 to adjudicate certain claims brought against the United States government by veterans of the Mexican–American WarMexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known as the First American Intervention, the Mexican War, or the U.S.–Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S...
.
In 1861, Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
in his Annual Message to Congress
State of the Union Address
The State of the Union is an annual address presented by the President of the United States to the United States Congress. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the president to outline his legislative agenda and his national priorities.The practice arises...
asked that the court be given the power to issue final judgments. Congress granted this power with the Act of March 3, 1863 , and explicitly made the judgments appealable to the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. However, it also modified the law governing the Court so that its reports and bills were sent to the Department of the Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
rather than directly to Congress. The moneys to cover these costs were then made a part of the appropriation for the Treasury Department.
The conflict inherent between these two provisions was made manifest when in 1864, the decision in Gordon v. United States was appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court denied that it had jurisdiction, because the decisions of the Court of Claims, hence any appeals, were subject to review by an executive department. Less than a year later, Congress passed a law removing review of the Court of Claims from the Treasury Department.
Passage of the Tucker Act
In 1887, Congress passed the Tucker ActTucker Act
Through the Tucker Act , the United States government has waived its sovereign immunity with respect to certain lawsuits....
, which further restricted the claims that could be submitted directly to Congress, requiring that these claims instead be submitted to the Court of Claims. It broadened the court's jurisdiction so that “claims founded upon the Constitution” could be heard. In particular, this meant that monetary claims based on takings under the eminent domain
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
clause of the Fifth Amendment
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
could be brought before the Court of Claims. The Tucker Act also opened the Court to tax refund suits.
Depredations against American shipping committed by the French during the Quasi-War
Quasi-War
The Quasi-War was an undeclared war fought mostly at sea between the United States and French Republic from 1798 to 1800. In the United States, the conflict was sometimes also referred to as the Franco-American War, the Pirate Wars, or the Half-War.-Background:The Kingdom of France had been a...
of 1793 to 1800 led to claims against France that were relinquished by the terms of the Treaty of 1800
Convention of 1800 (Treaty of Mortefontaine)
The Convention of 1800, , also known as the Treaty of Mortefontaine, was a treaty between the United States of America and France to settle the hostilities that had erupted during the Quasi-War...
. Since the claims against France were no longer valid, claimants continually petitioned Congress for the relief that had been waived by the treaty. It wasn’t until January 20, 1885 that a law was passed, 23 Stat. 283, that provided for consideration of the matter before the Court of Claims. The lead case, Gray v. United States, 21 Ct. Cl. 340, written by Judge John Davis, includes a complete discussion of the historical and political circumstances which led to the hostilities between the United States and France and their resolution by treaty. The cases, termed "French Spoliation Claims", continued in the court until 1915.
In 1925, Congress changed the structure of the Court of Claims by authorizing the Court to appoint seven commissioners who were empowered to hear evidence in judicial proceedings and report on findings of fact. The judges of the Court of Claims would then serve as a board of review for the commissioners.
In 1932, Congress reduced the salary of the judges of the Court of Claims as part of the Legislative Appropriation Act of 1932. Thomas Sutler Williams
Thomas Sutler Williams
Thomas Sutler Williams was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.Born in Louisville, Illinois, Williams attended Willis district school, Louisville High School, and Austin College, Effingham, Illinois.He studied law....
was one of the judges of the Court, and he sued the federal government, claiming that his salary could not be cut because the Constitution specified that judicial salaries could not be reduced. The Supreme Court ruled on Williams v. United States in 1933, deciding that the Court of Claims was an Article I or legislative court
Article I and Article III tribunals
In the United States, the American legal system includes both state courts and United States federal courts. The federal tribunals may be an Article III tribunal or another adjudicative body classified as an Article I or an Article IV tribunal...
, and that therefore Congress had the authority to reduce the salaries of the judges of the Court of Claims.
Beginning in 1948, Congress directed that when directed by the court, the commissioner could make recommendations for conclusions of law . Chief Judge Wilson Cowen
Arnold Wilson Cowen
Arnold Wilson Cowen , also known as Wilson Cowen, was successively a trial commissioner, a trial judge, and the chief judge of the appellate division of the United States Court of Claims...
made this mandatory under the court rules in 1964.
Elevation to Article III status
In 1953, Congress passed a law which converted the Court of Claims into an Article IIIArticle Three of the United States Constitution
Article Three of the United States Constitution establishes the judicial branch of the federal government. The judicial branch comprises the Supreme Court of the United States and lower courts as created by Congress.-Section 1: Federal courts:...
court. That act also raised the number of commissioners to 15. In spite of this Congressional statement of the Court's status, when Judge J. Warren Madden
J. Warren Madden
J. Warren Madden, born Joseph Warren Madden, was an American lawyer, judge, civil servant, and educator. He served on the United States Court of Claims and was the first Chair of the National Labor Relations Board...
was sitting by designation with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals...
, one of the parties asked that the decision be thrown out, on the basis that Madden wasn't a valid judge in that court. On appeal, the Supreme Court, in Glidden Co. v. Zdanok, held that the Court of Claims was a proper constitutional, Article III, court and that its judges could sit by designation and assignment on other courts. Ironically, the judges could no longer sit on Congressional reference cases because of this change, since an independent court could not act in an advisory role to Congress. The solution, enacted by Congress in 1966, was to have the trial judges hear the cases upon assignment by the chief judge of the trial division.
Two more judges were added to the court in 1966, bringing the total to seven.
Congress terminated the Indian Claims Commission in 1978 and required that any pending cases be transferred to the Court of Claims. Of the 170 cases so transferred many were complicated longstanding accounting claims that had been before the Commission for years. One of the most famous of these cases was United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians
United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians
In United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, 448 U.S. 371 the Supreme Court of the United States held that: 1) The enactment by Congress of a law allowing the Sioux Nation to pursue a claim against the United States that had been previously adjudicated did not violate the doctrine of separation...
, which ultimately reached the Supreme Court. Aside from its large judgment awarded to the Sioux, the case also featured interesting questions about judicial power and the ability of Congress to waive the Federal government's legal defense of res judicata
Res judicata
Res judicata or res iudicata , also known as claim preclusion, is the Latin term for "a matter [already] judged", and may refer to two concepts: in both civil law and common law legal systems, a case in which there has been a final judgment and is no longer subject to appeal; and the legal doctrine...
to allow a claim to be judicially determined.
Abolition
In 1982, Congress abolished the court, transferring its trial level jurisdiction to the newly created United States Claims Court (which is now known as the United States Court of Federal ClaimsUnited States Court of Federal Claims
The United States Court of Federal Claims is a United States federal court that hears monetary claims against the U.S. government. The court is established pursuant to Congress's authority under Article One of the United States Constitution...
) and its appellate jurisdiction to the equally new United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
-Vacancies and pending nominations:-List of former judges:-Chief judges:Notwithstanding the foregoing, when the court was initially created, Congress had to resolve which chief judge of the predecessor courts would become the first chief judge...
. By this time, the Court had expanded to have seven judges; they were transferred to the Federal Circuit.
Judges
Following is a list of judges who have served on the United States Court of Claims up to the merger of the Court into the Federal Circuit.| Judge | Began active service | Ended active service | Appointed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1855 | 1859 | Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army... |
|
| 1855 | 1858 | Franklin Pierce | |
| 1855 | 1861 | Franklin Pierce | |
| 1858 | 1877 | James Buchanan James Buchanan James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century.... |
|
| 1860 | 1864 | James Buchanan | |
| 1861 | 1870 | Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and... |
|
| 1863 | 1878 | Abraham Lincoln | |
| 1863 | 1868 | Abraham Lincoln | |
| 1865 | 1916 | Abraham Lincoln | |
| 1868 | 1874 | Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American... |
|
| 1870 | 1885 | Ulysses Grant | |
| 1874 | 1896 | Ulysses Grant | |
| 1877 1882 |
1881 1883 |
Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution... Chester A. Arthur Chester A. Arthur Chester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States . Becoming President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, Arthur struggled to overcome suspicions of his beginnings as a politician from the New York City Republican machine, succeeding at that task by embracing... |
|
| 1878 | 1881 | Rutherford B. Hayes | |
| 1881 | 1891 | James A. Garfield | |
| 1883 | 1905 | Chester A. Arthur | |
| 1885 | 1902 | Chester A. Arthur | |
| 1892 | 1913 | Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there... |
|
| 1897 | 1928 | Grover Cleveland Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents... |
|
| 1903 | 1905 | Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity... |
|
| 1905 | 1916 | Theodore Roosevelt | |
| 1905 | 1919 | Theodore Roosevelt | |
| 1905 | 1947 | Theodore Roosevelt | |
| 1913 | 1938 | Woodrow Wilson Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913... |
|
| 1915 | 1926 | Woodrow Wilson | |
| 1916 | 1931 | Woodrow Wilson | |
| 1919 | 1951 | Woodrow Wilson | |
| 1926 | 1929 | Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state... |
|
| 1928 | 1947 | Calvin Coolidge | |
| 1928 | 1929 | Calvin Coolidge | |
| 1929 | 1966 | Herbert Hoover Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business... |
|
| 1929 | 1940 | Herbert Hoover | |
| 1930 | 1951 | Herbert Hoover | |
| 1939 | 1967 | Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war... |
|
| 1940 | 1947 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | |
| 1941 | 1972 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | |
| 1947 | 1953 | Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his... |
|
| 1954 | 1982 | Dwight Eisenhower | |
| 1960 | 1977 | Dwight Eisenhower | |
| 1962 | 1982 | John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.... |
|
| 1964 | 1972 | Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States... |
|
| 1964 | 1982 | Lyndon B. Johnson | |
| 1966 | 1982 | Lyndon B. Johnson | |
| 1966 | 1982 | Lyndon B. Johnson | |
| 1971 | 1982 | Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under... |
|
| 1972 | 1982 | Richard Nixon | |
| 1972 | 1982 | Richard Nixon | |
| 1978 | 1982 | Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office... |
|
| 1978 | 1982 | Jimmy Carter |
See also
- Charles Cooper Nott, Sr., Chief Justice (1896-1905)
- George W. AtkinsonGeorge W. AtkinsonGeorge Wesley Atkinson of Ohio County was the tenth Governor of West Virginia. He also served in the U.S. House of Representatives and was a judge on the Court of Claims.-Biography:...
, Associate Justice (1905-1916) - :category:Judges of the United States Court of Claims