Here’s the amici brief of the Cato Institute and the National Association of Reversionary Property Owners supporting the petitioners in Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust v. United States, No. 12-1173 (cert. petition filed Mar. 22, 2013).
In that case, the Tenth Circuit’s opinion held that the term railroad “right of way” as used in an 1875 federal statute was a grant of land to railroads in fee simple with an “implied reversionary interest” to the United States, and not merely an easement. The difference is that easements may be extinguished, while reversionary interests are not. In this case, the railway abandoned its use, after which the federal government instituted a quiet title action in federal court claiming it and and not Brandt owned the right of way.
The amici brief argues:
This case is important to the Association because the Tenth Circuit’s decision unsettles long-established property interests and clouds the title of many landowners whose property is (or was) encumbered by a railroad right-of-way easement established under the General Railroad Right-of-Way Act of 1875, 43 U.S.C. 934-939 (“1875 Act”). And because the Tenth Circuit’s split from the holding of the Seventh and Federal Circuits, resolution of title disputes will be more costly and time-consuming.
We filed an amicus brief in the case also. Here’s the cert petition.
More, including the BIO, when filed.