Opinion of the Justices to the Governor

To His Excellency, the Governor of the Commonwealth:

The Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court respectfully submit their answers to the questions set forth in your request dated July 15, 1971, and submitted to us on the same date. The questions have arisen in the light of the decision in Newton v. Trustees of State Colleges, 359 Mass. 668.

That case held that no authority to take real estate by eminent domain was conferred on the Trustees of State Colleges by St. 1968, c. 476, item 8069-52, and that a purported taking by them was invalid. Your letter states that your staff has discovered over…