Moran v. Ross

Citations

• 79 Cal. 549
• 21 P. 958
• 1889 Cal. LEXIS 767

Syllabus

<p>Eminent Domain—Just Compensation — Deduction on Account of Benefits — Railway Condemned by Private Person — Rule of Damages — Constitutional Law. — Private individuals may condemn lands for railroad purposes, and are entitled to deduct from the damages to land not taken the amount of benefits accruing from the improvement to such land, The provisions of section 14 of article 1 of the constitution, prohibiting such deduction, and thus imposing upon the party seeking to condemn lands for public use a burden greater than is provided by the Code of Civil Procedure, are confined in their terms to the condemnation of a right of way by “ corporations other than municipal,” and do not apply to the case of condemnation by private individuals. The fact that the constitution and statutes have unjustly prescribed two distinct rules of damages, one for corporations and another for private individuals, is a matter with which the courts have nothing to do, the provisions of the law being plain and unambiguous.</p>