Johnson v. City of St. Louis

Citations

• 137 F. 439

Syllabus

<p>1. Parties—Actions against Cities—Missouri Statute.</p> <p>Act Mo. March 12, 1901 (Sess. Laws 1901, p. 78), which provides that when a city of a certain class shall be sued on a cause of action arising from the wrongful or unauthorized acts or negligence of another, who is also subject to an action therefor, such other person or corporation, if subject to service in the state, may be required by the city to be made a party, does not apply to an action against a city to recover for .damage to plaintiff’s property resulting from the performance by the city of a public duty, such as the making of an improvement, without negligence on the part of the contractor by whom the work was done, but merely as an incident of such work.</p> <p>2. Municipal Corporations—Liability por Damage to Property by Public Improvement—Missouri Constitution.</p> <p>Const. Mo. 1875, art. 2, § 21, providing that “private property shall not be taken or damaged for public use without just compensation,” as construed by the Supreme Court of the state, entitles an owner of a building to recover from a city for damage resulting thereto, without his fault or negligence, by reason of the construction of a sewer by the city so close to the foundations of the building as to cause them to settle.</p>