Capurro v. United States

OPINION

KOZINSKI, Chief Judge.

Plaintiffs, in this Fifth Amendment action, charge that the United States has taken land belonging to them. The parties have stipulated the facts they deem material.

FACTS

In issue is a 300 foot wide strip of land running through the middle of plaintiffs’ ranch. It has a complicated history.

Sometime near the middle of the nineteenth century, plaintiffs’ predecessor in interest, James Sutcliffe, began occupying 35 acres of public land in Nevada. He built a home and established a cattle ranch, believing the property to be his. In 1874, however, the United States…