Southern Railway v. Virginia
United States Supreme Court
290 U.S. 190 (1933)
A Virginia law let the state Highway Commissioner (defendant) order railways to remove grade crossings and build overpasses for public safety, without any requirement of notice or hearing, though it allowed a court of equity to grant relief only if the commissioner's determination was arbitrary; acting under this law, the commissioner ordered Southern Railway (plaintiff) to build a costly overpass without any hearing. Southern Railway challenged the law as violating due process, the Virginia Corporation Commission ordered compliance, the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed, and the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether due process requires that, before an administrative agency can take property, the agency must provide the property owner with a fair hearing.