Constitutional Law Flashcards
(2 cards)
Regulatory Taking
Under the 5th amendment as applied to the states through the 14th amendment, the government cannot take your property without just compensation. There are two ways which a taking might occur. Either the government takes all or a portion of your land for
the government to use via regulation or statute (a regulatory taking), or the government deprives a property owner of all economic value of his property which in effect is also a taking.
Here there was no regulatory taking and thus no violation of the takings clause. A state or city may make regulations that would be in the interest of public health or safety under its police power. They are valid as long as the regulation is rationally related to a legitimate state interest. The burden would be on the challenger to show there is no conceivable basis for the state or city to make such a regulation, which is a tough burden to meet.
Exaction
An exaction is a requirement to add or do something to private property in order to get a permit to build or add on to that property from the city. (Quid pro quo) An exaction will not be an unconstitutional taking if it has a legitimate purpose based on a public health or safety interest and the exaction is reasonable to alleviate a public health or safety concern which would be caused by the reason for the permit. Here the city is requiring
the restaurant to grant an easement so the city can place surveillance cameras. This is not an unconstitutional taking. The city is not asking for a large portion of the property, only for a small easement to place some surveillance cameras.
