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- Title
REAL PROPERTY-EMINENT DOMAIN: ASSESSING THE TAKINGS CLAUSE AND ENDING THE STATE-LITIGATION REQUIREMENT.
- Authors
Wal, Ashley Vander
- Abstract
The United States Constitution and many state constitutions include takings clauses stating that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. In Knick v. Township of Scott, the United States Supreme Court assessed the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment under the Constitution. The Supreme Court held property owners have an actionable Fifth Amendment takings claim when the government takes private property without just compensation, and therefore property owners may bring their claims in federal court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 at that time. Plaintiff Rose Mary Knick is a landowner in rural Pennsylvania. Knick's property includes a small graveyard where her ancestors are allegedly buried. The Township of Scott passed an ordinance requiring all cemeteries to be open and accessible to the public during the day and authorized enforcement officers to enter upon any property to determine the existence and location of any cemetery. Knick filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action in federal court, alleging that the ordinance violated the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment. Prior to Knick v. Township of Scott, the state-litigation requirement required property owners to seek just compensation under state law in state court before bringing a federal takings claim under § 1983. However, plaintiffs who lost their takings claim in state court found themselves without recourse in federal court, because the full faith and credit statute required the federal court to give preclusive effect to the state court's decision. This effectively prevented federal courts from ever considering these takings claims. In Knick v. Township of Scott, the Supreme Court ultimately overruled the state-litigation requirement, allowing takings plaintiffs to sue in federal court as soon as their property was taken without just compensation. The decision in Knick removed a significant legal barrier that for decades barred property owners from challenging local ordinances in federal court.
- Subjects
UNITED States; EMINENT domain lawsuits; UNITED States. Supreme Court; TAKINGS clause (Constitutional law); UNITED States. Constitution. 5th Amendment; PROPERTY rights; JUST compensation (Eminent domain)
- Publication
North Dakota Law Review, 2020, Vol 95, Issue 1, p229
- ISSN
0029-2745
- Publication type
Article