Eldridge v. Trezevant

Citations

• 160 U.S. 452
• 16 S. Ct. 345
• 40 L. Ed. 490
• 1896 U.S. LEXIS 2115

Syllabus

<p>In Louisiana the constitution and laws of the State, as interpreted by its highest court, permit the taking, without compensation, of land for the construction of a public levee on the Mississippi River, on the ground that the State has, under French laws existing before its transfer to the United States, a servitude on such lands for such a purpose; and they subject a citizen of another State owning such land therein, the title to which was derived from the United States, to the operation of the state law as so interpreted. Held, that there was no error in this so long as the citizen of another State receives the same measure of right as that awarded to citizens of Louisiana in regard to their property similarly situated.</p> <p>The provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution do .not override public rights, existing in the form of servitudes or easements, which are held by the courts of a State to be valid under its Constitution and-laws.</p>