Chevy Chase Land Co. v. United States

I respectfully dissent from the portion of the majority’s opinion holding that the railroad line at issue was not abandoned under Maryland property law.

The Court reaches its conclusion on the abandonment issue by answering a question not certified to us by the federal court—the effect of federal law on the purported abandonment. In doing so, the majority seeks to answer the ultimate question before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Our task was to answer the third certified question based on Maryland law: “If the deed conveyed an easement ..., has that easement, as a…