Murray et al v. Ainsworth et al
Filing
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MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER granting 8 Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction. Plaintiff's claim against the Federal Defendant is hereby Dismissed without prejudice. The remainder of this case is hereby Remanded to the Special Court of Eminent Domain for Stone County, Mississippi. Signed by District Judge Halil S. Ozerden on 7/29/2016 (wld)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
SOUTHERN DIVISION
THOMAS D. MURRAY, and
THERESA D. MURRAY
v.
PLAINTIFFS
Civil No. 1:16cv37-HSO-JCG
HAROLD B. AINSWORTH, et al.
DEFENDANTS
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING THE FEDERAL
DEFENDANT’S MOTION [8] TO DISMISS AND REMANDING THIS CASE
TO STATE COURT FOR LACK OF SUBJECT-MATTER JURISDICTION
BEFORE THE COURT is the Motion [8] to Dismiss for Lack of SubjectMatter Jurisdiction filed by the Federal Defendant in this case, the United States
Department of Agriculture, National Forest Service in Mississippi, De Soto Ranger
District (the “Federal Defendant”). Plaintiffs Thomas and Theresa Murray
(“Plaintiffs”) have filed a Response [12] in Opposition. The Motion [8] to Dismiss is
also opposed by the other Defendants in this civil action, Harold B. Ainsworth, Opal
B. Ainsworth, Loreeda L. Strickland, a/k/a Laverna L. Ladner (Strickland), Linda
Kay Langley Webb, and Pauline Bond Campbell (collectively, the “Private
Landowners”). Private Landowners’ Resp. [10] & Mem. Opp’n [11].
After full review and consideration of the pleadings on file, the record as a
whole, and relevant legal authority, the Court finds that the Motion [8] to Dismiss
pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) should be granted and Plaintiffs’ State-law claim against
the Federal Defendant should be dismissed without prejudice. Because there are no
remaining claims against the Federal Defendant and no other source of federal
jurisdiction, the claims against the remaining Defendants in this case will be
remanded to State court.
I. BACKGROUND
Plaintiffs purport to own an 80-acre parcel of land located in Stone County,
Mississippi, and claim that they are attempting to secure easements through the
Private Landowners’ or Federal Defendant’s adjacent property to establish a road
and supply electrical power access to their property. Mem. Supp. Mot. [9], at 2–3.
Plaintiffs originally filed this civil action against only the Private Landowners in
the Special Court of Eminent Domain for Stone County, Mississippi, on July 22,
2014. Compl. for Private Road. [4], at 4. On February 23, 2015, Plaintiffs amended
their Petition to add the Federal Defendant as a party. Am. Pet. for Private Road
[4], at 59.
The Federal Defendant is also an adjoining landowner, and Plaintiffs argue
that it is a necessary party to this action for a private road pursuant to Mississippi
Code Annotated Section 65-7-201 because “case law in Mississippi requires that all
adjoining land owners are to be joined as a necessary party in an action for a
private road.”1 Pls.’ Resp. [12], at 2. In their First Amended Petition, Plaintiffs
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The Court expresses no opinion as to whether Plaintiffs have correctly
stated Mississippi law concerning the necessity of joining all adjacent land owners
in a Section 65-7-201 action. The statute’s text contains no such requirement, and
the single case Plaintiffs cite for this proposition, Rotenberry v. Renfro, 214 So. 2d
275 (Miss. 1968), does not discuss necessary parties to such an action but states
“before one may acquire a private roadway over the lands of another . . . the
landlocked landowner must allege and show that he has been unable to obtain a
reasonable right-of-way from all of the surrounding property owners.” Id. at 278.
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asked the Special Court of Eminent Domain to “[g]rant [an] easement for ingress
and egress across the property of one of the named Defendants . . .” and to “[g]rant
an easement within the ingress and egress easement for the purpose of providing
electrical power to the Plaintiffs’ property. . . .” Id. at 64–65. The Federal
Defendant was served with the Amended Petition on January 28, 2016, and
removed the case to this Court on February 8, 2016, based on 28 U.S.C. §
1442(a)(1), as a case commenced in State court against the United States or a
federal agency. Not. Removal [1].
On May 27, 2016, the Federal Defendant filed the instant Motion [8] to
Dismiss for Lack of Subject-Matter Jurisdiction. The Federal Defendant argues
that Congress has only waived the Government’s sovereign immunity when claims
against federally-owned property are brought in federal court under the Quiet Title
Act (“QTA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2409a. Mem. Supp. Mot. [9], at 1–2. For this reason, the
Federal Defendant maintains that the State court lacked jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’
claim against the Federal Defendant brought under Mississippi Code Annotated
Section 65-7-201. Id. The Federal Defendant further argues that, under the
doctrine of derivative jurisdiction, this Court did not acquire jurisdiction over
Plaintiffs’ State-law claim upon removal. Id.
Plaintiffs and the Private Landowners oppose the Motion to Dismiss on
equitable grounds, arguing the practical necessity of the Federal Defendant’s
participation in the State-law suit. See Pls.’ Resp. [12]; Private Landowners’ Resp.
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[10] & Mem. Opp’n [11]. Plaintiffs have not sought leave to amend their Complaint
to state a claim against the Federal Defendant under the QTA.
II. DISCUSSION
A.
Legal Standard
A case is properly dismissed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
12(b)(1) for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction “when the court lacks the statutory or
constitutional power to adjudicate the case.” Home Builders Ass’n of Miss., Inc. v.
City of Madison, 143 F.3d 1006, 1010 (5th Cir. 1998). When, as here, the Court’s
subject-matter jurisdiction is challenged, the party asserting jurisdiction bears the
burden of establishing it. King v. U.S. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, 728 F.3d 410, 413
(5th Cir. 2013). The party who seeks to invoke the jurisdiction of the federal court
“‘must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the court has jurisdiction
based on the complaint and evidence.’” Id. (quoting Ballew v. Cont’l Airlines, Inc.,
668 F.3d 777, 781 (5th Cir. 2012)).
B.
This Court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ removed claim
against the Federal Defendant based on the doctrines of sovereign immunity
and derivative jurisdiction.
1.
The Government’s sovereign immunity is waived for property claims
only when such claims are brought pursuant to the Quiet Title Act, 28
U.S.C. § 2409a.
Under the doctrine of sovereign immunity, the federal government is immune
from suit except to the extent that it consents or waives its immunity. Linkous v.
United States, 142 F.3d 271, 275 (5th Cir. 1998) (citing United States v. Mitchell,
445 U.S. 535, 538 (1980)). Unless there has been an “unequivocally expressed”
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waiver of sovereign immunity “together with a claim falling within the terms of the
waiver,” federal courts do not have jurisdiction to hear cases against the federal
government. United States v. Nordic Village Inc., 503 U.S. 30, 33 (1992) (“Waivers
of the Government’s sovereign immunity, to be effective, must be unequivocally
expressed.” (quotation omitted)); Young v. United States, 727 F.3d 444, 446–47 (5th
Cir. 2013) (“It is axiomatic that the United States may not be sued without its
consent and that the existence of consent is a prerequisite for jurisdiction.”
(quotation omitted)).
The Federal Defendant argues that Congress has only waived the
Government’s sovereign immunity with regard to property disputes brought under
the Quiet Title Act (“QTA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2409a, and therefore the QTA is Plaintiffs’
exclusive remedy in seeking an easement across federally-owned land. Mem. Supp.
Mot. [9], at 6. The QTA waives the Government’s sovereign immunity “in a civil
action under this section to adjudicate a disputed title to real property in which the
United States claims an interest.” 28 U.S.C. § 2409a. Congress vested exclusive
jurisdiction over QTA claims in the federal district courts. 28 U.S.C.A. § 1346(f)
(“The district courts shall have exclusive original jurisdiction of civil actions under
section 2409a to quiet title to an estate or interest in real property in which an
interest is claimed by the United States.”); Equity Trust Company v. Secretary of
Veterans Affairs, 806 F.3d 833, 834 (5th Cir. 2015) (“A quiet title action against the
federal government must be brought in federal court . . . .”) (citing Block v. N.
Dakota ex rel. Bd. of Univ. & Sch. Lands, 461 U.S. 273, 286 (1983) (“Congress
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intended the QTA to provide the exclusive means by which adverse claimants could
challenge the United States’ title to real property.”)).
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has held that despite
State property laws concerning establishment of roads through neighboring
property, “Congress intended easements to be included in the real property rights
adjudicated in a quiet title action” under the QTA, and the QTA provides the
exclusive basis for jurisdiction over such actions against the Government. Sch. Bd.
of Avoyelles Par. v. U.S. Dep’t of Interior, 647 F.3d 570, 580 (5th Cir. 2011) (internal
quotation omitted) (discussing the QTA and its intersection with Louisiana Civil
Code Art. 689, the State-law provision for establishing a road to landlocked
property).
Plaintiffs have not carried their burden to establish that the federal
government has waived its sovereign immunity in this State-law action for an
easement over federal property. See King, 728 F.3d at 413. Instead Plaintiffs argue
that the “equitable thing to do would be to decide this case and get it over with.”
Pls.’ Resp. [12], at 3. Similarly, the Private Landowners argue that the Federal
Defendant should not be dismissed for practical reasons “because it is an adjoining
landowner with an existing road that would provide a reasonable right-of-way to
Plaintiffs’ property without condemning private property.” Private Landowners’
Resp. [11], at 3. Neither Plaintiffs nor the Private Landowners address the Federal
Defendant’s argument that this Court lacks jurisdiction entirely, such that it may
not “retain jurisdiction” based on equitable concerns. Pls.’ Resp. [12], at 3.
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2.
Pursuant to the doctrine of derivative jurisdiction, if the State
court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over a claim, this Court does
not acquire jurisdiction upon removal.
Under the doctrine of derivative jurisdiction, the jurisdictional problem of
sovereign immunity is not cured by removal to a federal forum. Lopez v. Sentrillon
Corporation, 749 F.3d 347, 350 (5th Cir. 2014) (“Thus, where the state court lacks
jurisdiction of the subject matter or of the parties, the federal court acquires none,
although in a like suit originally brought in a federal court it would have had
jurisdiction.” (quotation omitted and alteration adopted)); see also Equity Trust, 806
F.3d at 834 (“A quiet title action against the federal government must be brought in
federal court, and when the state court lacks subject matter jurisdiction, no
jurisdiction is added by removal to federal court.”). The Fifth Circuit has held that
a federal district court must dismiss “a case that falls within its exclusive
jurisdiction if the case was first instituted in, and then removed from, a state court.”
Cummings v. United States, 648 F.2d 289, 291–92 (5th Cir. 1981) (quotation
omitted) (dismissing the case entirely when property claims were asserted only
against the federal government under Texas law rather than the QTA).2
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In Cummings, the plaintiff only stated claims against the federal
government, and the court dismissed the case entirely based on the doctrine of
derivative jurisdiction. 648 F.2d at 292. Here, Plaintiffs also brought suit against
the Private Landowners under State law in State court. See Compl. for Private
Road. [4], at 4. After the claim against the Federal Defendant has been dismissed,
the remainder of this case against the Private Landowners may be remanded to
State court rather than dismissed. See Lopez, 749 F.3d at 348 (affirming dismissal
of all claims against the United States based on the derivative jurisdiction doctrine
and remand as to the remaining state law claims).
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The Special Court of Eminent Domain for Stone County, Mississippi, did not
have subject-matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ claim against the Federal
Defendant pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated Section 65-7-201, which could
only be brought under the QTA in federal court. Equity Trust, 806 F.3d at 834. It
is well-established that
no suit may be maintained against the United States unless the suit is
brought in exact compliance with the terms of a statute under which the
sovereign has consented to be sued. Where the United States has not
consented to suit or the plaintiff has not met the terms of the statute, the
court lacks jurisdiction and the action must be dismissed.
Koehler v. United States, 153 F.3d 263, 265–66 (5th Cir. 1998) (internal citation
omitted). Applying the doctrine of derivative jurisdiction, because the State court
lacked jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ State-law claim against the Federal Defendant,
this Court acquired none upon removal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1).
Plaintiffs’ claim against the Federal Defendant pursuant to Mississippi Code
Annotated Section 65-7-201 must be dismissed without prejudice.3
Jurisdiction over this case was based on 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1), as a case
commenced in State court against the United States or a federal agency. Because
there is no other source of federal jurisdiction following dismissal of the Federal
Defendant, the remainder of this case will be remanded to State court pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 1447(c).
3
The Court notes that Plaintiffs did not request leave to amend their
Petition to include claims under the QTA against the Federal Defendant.
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III. CONCLUSION
To the extent the Court has not addressed any of the parties’ arguments, it
has considered them and determined that they would not alter the result.
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Motion [8] to
Dismiss for Lack of Subject-Matter Jurisdiction filed by the Federal Defendant, the
United States Department of Agriculture, National Forest Service in Mississippi,
De Soto Ranger District, is GRANTED. Plaintiffs’ claim against the Federal
Defendant is hereby DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.
IT IS, FURTHER, ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that, the remainder of
this case is hereby REMANDED to the Special Court of Eminent Domain for Stone
County, Mississippi, from whence it was removed, and a certified copy of this Order
of remand shall immediately be mailed by the Clerk of this Court to the clerk of the
State court, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c).
SO ORDERED AND ADJUDGED, this the 29th day of July, 2016.
s/ Halil Suleyman Ozerden
HALIL SULEYMAN OZERDEN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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