BEN W. ALLUSTIARTE, BENJAMIN ALLUSTIARTE, GAYLE ALLUSTIARTE, LINDA A. ALLUSTIARTE, WILLIAM J. CONNOLLY, RUTH F. HOWARD, JAMES D. HUFFER, KARIN HUFFER, JOHN L. JOHNSTON, RAJ KUMAR, CHARLES G. MILDEN, SUSAN P. MILDEN, MARIANNE A. PACK, FRANCES PALMER, ROBERT PALMER AND WESTERN INVESTORS GROUP, INC., PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS
v.
UNITED STATES, DEFENDANT-APPELLEE
00-5112
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
July 16, 2001
Aрpealed from: United States Court of Federal Claims Judge Marian Blank HornWilliam T. Barrante, of Watertown, Connecticut, argued for plaintiffs-appellants.
Katherine J. Barton, Attorney, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Department of Justice, of Washington, Dc, argued for defendant-appellee. With her on the brief were Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant Attоrney General; John A. Bryson, and Susan v. Cook, Attorneys.
Before Clevenger, Schall, and Gajarsa, Circuit Judges.
Schall, Circuit Judge
This is an appeal from the decision of the United States Court of Federal Claims that dismissed appellants' complaint against the United States for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Allustiarte v. United States,
BACKGROUND
Appellants were involved in bankruptcy proceedings in bankruptcy courts in the Ninth Circuit. Aрpellants sued the United States in the Court of Federal Claims, asserting in their complaint that the "improprieties in certain actions of the Bankruptcy Courts in the Ninth Circuit . . . . constituted a taking without just compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution." Appellants Ben W. Allustiarte, Linda M. Allustiarte, William J. Connolly, Ruth F. Howard, James D. Huffer, Karin Huffer, John L. Johnstоn, Raj Kumar, Charles G. Milden, Susan P. Milden, and Western Investors Group, Inc. were debtors who filed for bankruptcy. These appellants allege that court-appointed bankruptcy trustees sold their assets for less than they were worth or otherwise handled their property in a manner that diminished their estates. Appellants Benjamin Allustiarte, Gayle Allustiarte, and Marianne A. Pack allege that a bankruptcy trustee wrongfully included their property in the bankruptcy estates of Ben W. Allustiarte and Linda M. Allustiarte. Appellants Robert Palmer and Frances Palmer are creditors who allege in one count that a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee awarded their interest in a bankruptcy debtor's property to another party, and who allege in another count that a bankruptcy trustee awarded them too little in their action against a bankruptcy debtor. Appellants assert that the losses they suffered as a result of the bankruptcy courts' approval of the actions of the bankruptcy trustees constitute takings for which thеy are entitled to just compensation.
The government moved the Court of Federal Claims to dismiss appellants' complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. In granting thе government's motion, the court noted that it could find no precedent "in which the discretionary actions of a Bankruptcy Court judge [were found to] constitute a taking under the Fifth Amendment." Allustiarte,
The court also recognized that it "does not have jurisdiction tо review decisions issued during the normal course of bankruptcy proceedings." Id. at 718. Instead, "[r]elief from [such] judgments may be found in timely appeals to the appropriаte federal district courts, Circuit Courts of Appeal and ultimately to apply for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court." Id. The court therefore dismissed appellants' complaint for lack of jurisdiction. Our jurisdiction over the appeal of the dismissal is provided by 28 U.S.C. §§ 1295(a)(3) (1994).
DISCUSSION
The subject matter jurisdiction of the Court of Federal Claims is a question of law that we review de novo. First Hartford Corp. Pension Plan & Trust v. United States,
Each appellant's takings claim is based on an allegedly improper action by a bankruptcy trustee that was аpproved by a Ninth Circuit bankruptcy court. Appellants admit that the judgments of the bankruptcy courts were authorized by the applicable bankruptcy laws. They contend that they are not asking the Court of Federal Claims to review those judgments. However, in order for the court to entertain appellants' takings claims, it would have to determine whether appellants suffered a categorical taking of their property at the hands of the bankruptcy trustees and courts, or whether the courts' and trusteеs' actions defeated their reasonable, investment-backed expectations. See, e.g., Rith Energy, Inc. v. United States,
As we stated in Joshua v. United States,
Appellants cite Preseault v. Interstate Commerce Commission,
Appellants analogize their situation to that of the petitioners in Preseault: Like the Preseaults, who pursued an appeal to thе Second Circuit, appellants availed themselves of the judicial review available in the Ninth Circuit, and, like the Preseaults, who were permitted to subsequently pursue a takings claim in the Court of Federal Claims, appellants now seek to pursue their takings claims in the Court of Federal Claims. The claims litigated in Preseault, however, are quite distinct from appellants' claims. First, the Preseaults' Second Circuit appeal challenged the constitutionality of a statute under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment; apрellants' Ninth Circuit proceedings challenged the actions of the bankruptcy trustees under the bankruptcy laws. Second, the Preseaults' takings claim in the Court of Federal Claims was based on the operation of the statute whose constitutionality they had unsuccessfully challenged in the Second Circuit and the Supreme Court; appellants' takings claims are based on the bankruptcy courts' approval of the actions of the bankruptcy trustees. Nothing in Preseault suggests that appellants can bring such takings сlaims in the Court of Federal Claims.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the decision of the Court of Federal Claims dismissing appellants' complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is
AFFIRMED.
Notes:
Notes
Some appellants here did pursue judicial review in the Ninth Circuit. See, e.g., In re Allustiarte,