UTAH v. UNITED STATES
No. 31,
Orig.
Decided February 19, 1975
Decree entered February 19, 1975 — Further decree entered June 28, 1976
DECREE
It is ordered, adjudged, and decreed that:
1. Taking into consideration Sections 1, 2, and 5 of the decree of this Court entered May 22, 1972, Utah v. United States, 406 U. S. 484, 485-486, Sections 1, 2, and 4 of the decree of this Court entered February 19, 1975, Utah v. United States, 420 U. S. 304, 305-306, and the further proceedings had herein pursuant to the decree of this Court entered February 19, 1975, Utah v. United States, 420 U. S. 304, and
2. Subject to any federal regulatory authority that may extend to the Great Salt Lake or its shorelands, the United States of America, its departments and agencies, are enjoined from asserting against the State of Utah any claim of right, title and interest:
(a) to any lands within the meander line of the Great Salt Lake (as duly surveyed prior to or in accordance with Section 1 of the Act of June 3, 1966, 80 Stat. 192), with the exception of any lands within the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, the Weber Basin Federal Reclamation Project, and the Hill Air Force Range (as bounded by water’s edge June 15, 1967), the title to which last-named parcel is not decided by this decree;
(b) to the natural resources and living organisms in or beneath the lands delineated in (a) above; and
(c) to the natural resources and living organisms either within the waters of the Great Salt Lake, or extracted therefrom, as delineated in (a) above.
3. The State of Utah is not required to pay the United States for the lands, including the minerals, delineated in paragraph 2 above of this decree.
4. The prayer of the United States in its answer to the State of Utah’s Complaint that this Court “confirm, declare and establish that the United States is the owner of all right, title and interest in all of the lands described in Section 2 of the Act of June 3, 1966, 80 Stat. 192, as amended by the Act of August 23, 1966, 80 Stat. 349, and that the State of Utah is without any right, title or interest in such lands, save for the right to have these lands conveyed to it by the United States, and to pay for them, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of June 3,1966, as amended,” is denied.
Me. Justice Marshall took no part in the consideration or decision of this decree.
When “lands” appears in this decree to describe the interests involved, the word is used to include the brines and minerals in solution in the brines or precipitated or extracted therefrom.
What follows is an opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States. Your task is to determine the issue area of the Court's decision. Determine the issue area on the basis of the Court's own statements as to what the case is about. Focus on the subject matter of the controversy rather than its legal basis. In specifying the issue in a legacy case, choose the one that best accords with what today's Court would consider it to be. Choose among the following issue areas: "Criminal Procedure" encompasses the rights of persons accused of crime, except for the due process rights of prisoners. "Civil rights" includes non-First Amendment freedom cases which pertain to classifications based on race (including American Indians), age, indigency, voting, residency, military or handicapped status, gender, and alienage. "First Amendment encompasses the scope of this constitutional provision, but do note that it need not involve the interpretation and application of a provision of the First Amendment. For example, if the case only construe a precedent, or the reviewability of a claim based on the First Amendment, or the scope of an administrative rule or regulation that impacts the exercise of First Amendment freedoms. "Due process" is limited to non-criminal guarantees. "Privacy" concerns libel, comity, abortion, contraceptives, right to die, and Freedom of Information Act and related federal or state statutes or regulations. "Attorneys" includes attorneys' compensation and licenses, along with trhose of governmental officials and employees. "Unions" encompass those issues involving labor union activity. "Economic activity" is largely commercial and business related; it includes tort actions and employee actions vis-a-vis employers. "Judicial power" concerns the exercise of the judiciary's own power. "Federalism" pertains to conflicts and other relationships between the federal government and the states, except for those between the federal and state courts. "Federal taxation" concerns the Internal Revenue Code and related statutes. "Private law" relates to disputes between private persons involving real and personal property, contracts, evidence, civil procedure, torts, wills and trusts, and commercial transactions. Prior to the passage of the Judges' Bill of 1925 much of the Court's cases concerned such issues. Use "Miscellaneous" for legislative veto and executive authority vis-a-vis congress or the states.
Criminal Procedure Civil Rights First Amendment Due Process Privacy Attorneys Unions Economic Activity Judicial Power Federalism Interstate Relations Federal Taxation Miscellaneous Private Action