University of Virginia Library

Federal Control

Mr. Merhige had accepted the LEAA
argument that the Safe Street Act prevented
federal control of state spending of grants. He
said the Safe Streets Act took precedence over
the Historical Act because the it was passed
later and more accurately reflected the mood of
Congress. And, he said, it overruled the
Environmental Act because the Streets Act
required the agency to make grants, while the
Environmental Act said it should be followed as
closely as possible.

The appeals court's three judge panel
overturned Mr. Merhige's decision.

The judges, Simon Sobelhoff, Clement
Haysworth, and Harrison Winter, ruled that
there was no conflict among the three laws
because the Safe Streets Act was designed to
give the federal government "as small a role as
possible" in state spending to preserve local
autonomy, while the other laws were passed to
protect areas of historical and environmental
value.

The appeals court stated further that it
would not stop the state from building the
facility because these federal laws "impose no
duties on the state and operate only upon
federal agencies."

The Green Springs residents had protested
the building of the four-building,
fence-enclosed facility as harmful to the beauty
and historical value of the area.

The Green Springs community consists of 26
farm houses. Some were built during the
original settlement of the area in the early
1700's. The most recent was built in 1860. At
present 23 of these houses are listed in the
archives of the Library of Congress and three
are on the National Register of Historic places.

According to Frederick Hartt, Chairman of
the University's department of Art, "No
reasonable argument for the choice of this
wonderful spot as a prison site has yet been put
forward."