Robert v. Ferry v. Stewart L. Udall, Secretary of the Interior, Autrice Copeland Freeman v. Stewart L. Udall, Secretary of the Interior

Stewart L. Udall, Secretary of the United States Department of Interior (Secretary), and certain other individuals connected with the Department, were made defendants in these two cases brought in the District Court of Arizona. The first case (Freeman case) was filed on December 12, 1962, by Autrice Copeland Freeman. The second case (Ferry case) was filed on April 17, 1963, by Robert V. Ferry and Irving Baker, collectively referred to herein as Ferry. The plaintiffs in both cases sought district court review under the Administrative Procedure Act of decisions of defendants involving the administration and sale of public lands.

A summary judgment for defendants was entered in each case and on identical grounds. Because of the similarity in the facts involved and the identity of issues raised, the two cases were consolidated for the purposes of this appeal.

The essential facts in both cases are undisputed. The Secretary invited bidding on certain isolated tracts of public lands exposed for sale pursuant to authority vested in him under the Isolated Tracts Act, Rev.Stat. § 2455, as amended, 43 U.S.C. § 1171 (1958). Freeman and Ferry submitted bids on the particular tracts involved…