Baker v. Morton

Baker v. Morton, 79 U.S. (12 Wall.) 150 (1870), was the second of two land claim suits to come out of Omaha, Nebraska Territory, filed in September 1860, prior to statehood.[1] A claim jumper filed suit against local land barons to stake out a homestead in the area that was to become the city of Omaha. The case was important for establishing homesteaders' rights and ensuring that the future growth of Omaha would benefit everyone, not just wealthy landowners and speculators.

Baker v. Morton
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 24, 1871
Decided April 3, 1871
Full case nameAlexander H. Baker v. William S. Morton
Citations79 U.S. 150 (more)
12 Wall. 150; 20 L. Ed. 262; 1870 U.S. LEXIS 1172
Court membership
Chief Justice
Salmon P. Chase
Associate Justices
Samuel Nelson · Nathan Clifford
Noah H. Swayne · Samuel F. Miller
David Davis · Stephen J. Field
William Strong · Joseph P. Bradley
Case opinion
MajorityClifford, joined by unanimous

Details

The case of Alexander H. Baker v. William S. Morton was a case of an ill-gotten land claim. Baker was an early settler in the Omaha area who lived on 160 acres (0.65 km2) of land in an area of town then known as Orchard Hill, which is now in North Omaha.[2]

An adjoining 160-acre (0.65 km2) plot of land was owned by a man named Brown. The Omaha Claim Club did not recognize the men as legal residents for either of the plots and threatened the two men with death if they did not turn over the titles to the land. Baker and Brown conveyed their land titles in the face of potential harm. In 1860 Baker and Brown filed suits against the Club to get their titles back. The territorial court ruled against Baker, who appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled that the property was obtained under duress and was to be reinstated to the rightful owner.[3][4]

Legacy

Today this case is cited by legal experts as precedent in cases of contractual holdup to establish the illegal nature of the Omaha Claim Club's activities and subsequent activities that exhibit this form of collusion.[5]

See also

References
  1. Three years earlier, the Court decided Brown v. Pierce, 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 205 (1868), on substantially similar facts, in an appeal from the Supreme Court of Nebraska Territory. The State of Nebraska was admitted to the Union in February 1867.
  2. Baker v. Morton, 79 U.S. (12 Wall.) 150, 150-59 (1870).
  3. Baumann, L.; Martin, C.; Simpson, S. (1990). Omaha's Historic Prospect Hill Cemetery. Omaha: Prospect Hill Cemetery Historical Development Foundation.
  4. The territorial court had ruled in favor of Brown in his case, and the Omaha Claim Club members appealed. The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court. The court in the Baker case acknowledged the similarity of the facts and findings in the Brown decision, and ruled accordingly.
  5. Shavell, Steven (2007). "Contractual Holdup and Legal Intervention". The Journal of Legal Studies. 36 (2): 325–354. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.333.6678. doi:10.1086/511892.
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