June SCOTUS Ruling Hit the Reset Button on Takings Claims
In a June 21, 2019 opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court finally reversed a 1985 ruling that has prevented property owners from challenging land use regulations…
October 18, 2019 at 11:40 AM
6 minute read
In a June 21, 2019 opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court finally reversed a 1985 ruling that has prevented property owners from challenging land use regulations in federal court under federal constitutional standards. In Knick v. Township of Scott, the court restored the right of property owners to bring claims directly in federal court when they claim that the government has "taken" their property without paying "just compensation." The new decision promises a substantial change in how and when property owners challenge the impacts of land use regulation.
The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits government from taking real property except for public use, and only if it pays "just compensation"—generally, the fair market value of the property that government appropriates to itself. When government uses eminent domain to take private property for a public use, the issue is whether the government has fairly compensated the property owner for the land taken.
But sometimes the government does not use eminent domain—"direct condemnation"—but issues regulations that substantially reduce or even eliminate the value of property, claiming that the regulation is necessary public policy but declining to compensate the impacted property owner. In such cases, the property owner has a "regulatory taking" claim.
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