Duncan v. Board of Levee Commissioners
Mississippi Supreme Court
From the circuit court of Issaquena county. The appellant, Duncan, was the owner of a plantation in Issaquena county. It was bounded on the west by the Mississippi river, and many years previous a levee had been constructed along, but some distance back from, the river which protected the land from overflow. The bank of the river was caving and the stream was approaching so near to this old levee as to endanger it.
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From the circuit court of Issaquena county. The appellant, Duncan, was the owner of a plantation in Issaquena county. It was bounded on the west by the Mississippi river, and many years previous a levee had been constructed along, but some distance back from, the river which protected the land from overflow. The bank of the river was caving and the stream was approaching so near to this old levee as to endanger it. This condition of affairs caused the Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners to determine that a new levee was necessary, and it proposed to build one, some distance to the east…
1Opinion of the CourtWhitfield, J.
Section 238 of the constitution excludes compensation for damages accruing to land 1 ‘ because of its being left outside a levee ” — that is, damages inflicted upon the land by the Mississippi river, the ms major, the public enemy. “Left outside a levee ’ ’ presents the idea of defencelessness as against the ravages of the river — the land is ‘ ‘ left outside, ’ ’ left unprotected by the levee. The complementary clause of the section exempts the owner from levee taxes. The idea, the thought, of § 238, is that as the land “left outside a levee,” is to be without levee protection against the…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Richardson v. Board of Levee CommissionersMississippi Supreme Court · 1891
3Cited by5 opinions
- Ham v. Board of Levee CommissionersMississippi Supreme Court · 1903
- Jones v. Board of Mississippi Levee Com'rsMississippi Supreme Court · 1914
- Indian Creek Drainage Dist. No. 1 v. GarrottMississippi Supreme Court · 1920
- Jones v. GeorgeMississippi Supreme Court · 1921
- Toler v. Bear Creek Drainage Dist.Mississippi Supreme Court · 1925