The

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

decision in ''Illinois Central Railroad v. Illinois'', 146 U.S. 387 (1892), reaffirmed that each state in its sovereign capacity holds title to all submerged lands within its borders and holds these lands in

public trust The concept of public trust relates back to the origins of democratic government and its seminal idea that within the public lies the true power and future of a society; therefore, whatever ''trust'' citizens place in its officials must be respect ...

.. This is a foundational case for the

public trust doctrine The public trust doctrine is the principle that the sovereign holds in trust for public use some Natural resource, resources such as shoreline between the high and low tide lines, regardless of private property ownership. Origins The Roman law, ...

. The Supreme Court held a four to three split decision that the

State of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

did not possess the authority to grant fee title to submerged lands where doing so would preclude exercise of the public right to commercial navigation and fishing in

navigable waters A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Such a navigable water is called a ''waterway'', and is preferably with few obstructions against d ...

Background

In the mid-19th century,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

was growing rapidly and was becoming increasingly interested in creating an outer harbor at the junction of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

and the

Chicago River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). Though not especially long, the river is notable because it is one of the reasons for ...

because local currents often resulted in either the formation of sandbars or areas of erosion, increasing congestion and complicating navigation. Then, in 1851, the

Illinois Central Railroad Company Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

made an offer to the

City of Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

that in exchange for allowing tracks to be laid along the lake front, the railroad company would pay for and build a breakwater to protect the harbor.Chase, C.S. 2010. The Illinois Central Public Trust Doctrine and Federal Common Law: An Unconventional View (16 Hastings W.-Nw. J. Envy’l L. & Pol’y 113 (2010) Illinois then officially granted of shoreline along Lake Michigan to create a north–south railroad under the state charter titled "An Act to Incorporate the Illinois Central Rail Road Company". This charter gave Illinois Central the authority to "enter upon and take possession of, and use all and singular any lands, streams and materials of every kind."Kearney, Joseph D and Thomas W. Merrill (2004). "The Origins of the American Public Trust Doctrine: What Really Happened in Illinois Central". Chicago Law Review 71: 799-931. To further confirm their rights to this area, the railroad lobbied the state, and in 1869, the State of Illinois passed the Lake Front Act, granting Illinois Central "appropriation, occupancy, use and control" of a large portion of the harbor. The legislature's goal in passing the act was to bring a new train depot, an outer harbor and better parks to the residents of Chicago. The portion of land stretched from present-day West Randolph Street south to Twelfth Street, and from South Michigan Avenue east into Lake Michigan. However, due to political controversy and poor public opinion of the railroad company, the legislature repealed the Lake Front Act in 1873. Both before and after the repeal, Illinois Central continued to construct tracks, piers and other facilities along the lake front. This construction also included filling in several hundred feet into Lake Michigan to provide land for these new facilities. On March 1, 1883, the Illinois Attorney General filed suit against Illinois Central in order to stop construction on the land known as Lake Park.

Procedural history

In 1883, Illinois filed suit in state court against the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...

Company, asking the court to determine who possessed title to submerged lands under Lake Michigan adjacent to the Chicago shoreline. Illinois also sought a court order to remove structures the railroad company had constructed over the lakebed, as well as an injunction against Illinois Central continuing this construction. Upon motion, the case was removed to the federal Circuit Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Justice Harlan, then a circuit-court judge, ruled that the state held title to the submerged lands, and therefore had the right to revoke the license granted to Illinois Central in the Act, which Illinois Central had contested. This decision also established that the City of Chicago held title to the land of Lake Park (present day

Millennium Park Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago, operated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The park, opened in 2004 and intended to celebrate the third millennium, is a prominent civic center nea ...

). Illinois Central appealed to the

. Chief Justice

Melville Fuller Melville Weston Fuller (February 11, 1833 – July 4, 1910) was an American politician, attorney, and jurist who served as the eighth chief justice of the United States from 1888 until his death in 1910. Staunch conservatism marked his ...

and Associate Justice

Samuel Blatchford Samuel M. Blatchford (March 9, 1820 – July 7, 1893) was an American attorney and judge. He was most notable for his service as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from April 3, 1882 until his death in 1893. Early ...

recused themselves: Fuller had previously represented Illinois Central as a private attorney, while Blatchford held stock in the company.

Parties

The petitioners were Illinois Central Railroad Company, a corporation created by act of the

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

State legislature and the city of Chicago, which was added as a party at trial because of its interest in the case. The respondent was the state of Illinois.

Issues

#Whether the state of Illinois possessed the authority to grant title to its lands submerged by

. #Whether Illinois Central Railroad Company acquired

riparian rights Riparian water rights (or simply riparian rights) is a system for allocating water among those who possess land along its path. It has its origins in English common law. Riparian water rights exist in many jurisdictions with a common law herit ...

to the lake bed immediately adjacent to the lakefront property to which it possessed title.

Arguments

Illinois Central’s arguments

Illinois Central Railroad asserted three arguments in support of their claim on a portion of the lakebed under Lake Michigan. First, Illinois Central argued it had been granted by the state and by city ordinance a wide corridor into the lake to construct a raised railway track, pier and warehouses. Second, Illinois Central argued that they had acquired riparian rights by virtue of their ownership of lands surrounding the lake. Third, the railroad company argued they had received title to a bounded parcel of submerged lakebed from the State of Illinois in 1869.

State of Illinois’s argument

In seeking to enjoin the railroad, the state claimed "title to the bed of Lake Michigan, and exclusive right to develop and improve the harbor of Chicago by the construction of docks, wharves, piers, and other improvements…."

Decision

Majority Opinion of the Court

Writing for the majority, Justice Field affirmed the lower court's holding that the state held title to the lakebed. Field found that Illinois lacked the authority to grant title to submerged lands held in the

with two exceptions – for grants not impairing the public interest and grants that actually improved the public trust. But neither exception was found to apply in this case and therefore the railroad did not possess title. Justice Field expressed the doctrine of public trust as follows:

"It is the settled law of this country that the ownership of and dominion and sovereignty over lands covered by tide waters, within the limits of the several states, belong to the respective states within which they are found, with the consequent right to use or dispose of any portion thereof, when that can be done without substantial impairment of the interest of the public in the waters, and subject always to the paramount right of congress to control their navigation so far as may be necessary for the regulation of commerce with foreign nations and among the states"

Justice Field determined that the public trust doctrine applies to the Great Lakes, despite the fact that they are not subject to the ebb and flow of the tides. Initially, the United States adopted English Common law which limited the definition of navigable waters to those that were subject to the ebb and flow of the tides. In the United States the tidal requirement was removed because many rivers can be navigated for great distances by large commercial vessels. Great Lakes, while not subject to the tides, are the conduit of a great deal of transnational and interstate commerce, and it was this value the common law sought to protect in the public trust doctrine. The public trust doctrine limits private property rights to lands submerged by navigable waters. The

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

are owned in common to be preserved for the common good, and no private encroachment is allowed. Justice Field argued that the 1869 grant Illinois made to Illinois Central Railroad was merely a grant of the right to lay track, not a transfer of title to a portion of the lakebed. The grant was expressly limited to this purpose and it particularly limited the transfer of a

right of way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

across the lake so as not to interrupt the navigation of streams. Justice Field agreed with Illinois Central that title to land bordering navigable waters carries with it the right to access these waters and to develop a pier for personal or public use. However, this right extends only to the "navigable point" of the water. Since no evidence had been presented indicating that the railroad's pier and docks extended that far, Justice Field remanded this particular issue back to the lower court. The 1869 act establishing the Illinois Central Railroad Company, granted the company title to a section of the submerged lakebed of Lake Michigan. The state legislature later repealed this piece of legislation. Justice Field posed the question whether the legislature was authorized to transfer title to the submerged lake bed in the first place. It is up to courts to determine on a case-by-case basis whether a state legislature's transfer of rights to submerged lands sufficiently protects the public interest. In this case, Illinois Central was granted unrestricted rights to an enormous, section of submerged land, which occupied the entire aquatic area bordering the Chicago harbor. Justice Field found the state can never permanently transfer authority over these submerged lands, but only grant revocable permissions to them. Therefore, the Illinois state legislature's original grant had no effect on the state of Illinois's ultimate authority over the submerged land.

Justice Shiras' Dissenting Opinion

Justice Shiras agreed that ownership of state lands extends to those lands submerged under its

; however, Shiras argued that the grant of the submerged lands by the state legislature functioned like any land transfer contract and effectively transferred title to Illinois Central. Shiras pointed out that the act granting the submerged lands expressly denied Illinois Central the rights to resell or transfer the lands or to impair the public right to navigation. Shiras makes it clear that this dissenting opinion does not contradict the point that states cannot transfer control of the public's rights to navigable waters, however, these rights are only violated once Illinois Central acts to obstruct them. To otherwise empower the legislature to revoke legislative acts granting property rights would offend "the right of the citizens to the free enjoyment of their property legally acquired."

Importance

Though ''Illinois Central'' is frequently cited as the source for American

law, it was several decades before, in ''Martin v. Waddell’s Lessee'', that the Supreme Court ratified the public trust doctrine. Still, ''Illinois Central'' has been referred to as "the Lodestar in American Public Trust Law". As of 2010, the courts of 35 states had cited ''Illinois Central'' in their articulation of the public trust doctrine.

Notes

External links

* {{caselaw source , case = ''Illinois Central Railroad Co. v. Illinois'', {{ussc, 146, 387, 1892, el=no , justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/146/387/ , loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep146/usrep146387/usrep146387.pdf 1890s in the environment 1892 in United States case law United States property case law Illinois Central Railroad History of Chicago Legal history of Illinois United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Fuller Court Railway litigation in 1892 Transportation in Chicago