Page:Wilkins v. United States (2023).pdf/4

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delivered the opinion of the Court.

Larry Steven Wilkins and Jane Stanton wanted quiet titles and a quiet road. Wilkins and Stanton, the petitioners here, both live alongside Robbins Gulch Road in rural Montana. The United States has permission, called an easement, for use of the road, which the Government interprets to include making the road available for public use. Petitioners allege that the road’s public use has intruded upon their private lives, with strangers trespassing, stealing, and even shooting Wilkins’ cat.

Petitioners sued over the scope of the easement under the Quiet Title Act, which allows challenges to the United States’ rights in real property. Invoking the Act’s 12-year time limit, 28 U. S. C. §2409a(g), the Government maintains that the suit is jurisdictionally barred. Petitioners counter, and the Court holds, that §2409a(g) is a nonjurisdictional claims-processing rule.

Robbins Gulch Road runs through about a mile of private property. Petitioners acquired their properties along the