Dollar

In this matter, which has been brought to this Court upon an appeal from an interlocutory injunction, we are now asked, in advance of and prior to any hearing upon the merits of the appeal, to vacate and set aside the trial court’s preliminary injunction.

The questions which are before us present considerable difficulty. The difficulty arises out of the fact that although the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia made certain determinations of fact and of law as between R. Stanley Dollar and others, and the successors of Land, et al., yet it appears to be recognized and conceded that such determinations were not binding upon the United States. It would seem to follow that the right of the United States to institute the action below cannot be questioned, nor do we understand that it is argued that the United States may not prosecute that action.

If the United States may prosecute the action, may it prosecute it as effectively as if there had been no prior litigation between Dollar and Land, or their successors? Or does the prior judgment of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia operate in some degree to limit the Government’s freedom of action in prosecuting…