Number: RS20741
Title: The Constitutional Law of Property Rights "Takings": An Introduction
Authors: Robert Meltz, American Law Division 
Abstract: This report introduces the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment: "[N]or shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." The Clause, extensively explicated by the courts in recent decades, seeks to strike a balance between societal goals and the burdens imposed on property owners to achieve those goals. In filing a "taking action" in court, the property owner first must surmount threshold hurdles such as ripeness and the statute of limitations. If successful, the court then will address whether a taking occurred, the criteria depending on whether the claim is of the regulatory taking, physical taking, or exaction taking variety. If a taking is found, the constitutionally required remedy is usually compensation of the property owner, rather than invalidation of the government action. Takings actions against the United States, as opposed to state and local governments, have some special procedural and substantive-law features.
Pages: 6
Date: January 15, 2008