A Workable Common Law Baseline for Regulatory Takings

Authors

Adam J. MacLeod, St. Mary’s University School of Law,Follow

Journal Title

Journal of Law, Economics & Policy

Volume

20

Issue

2

First Page

461

Document Type

Article

Publication Information

2025

Abstract

Rights to use property are property rights. The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment requires governments to provide just compensation when they take property. In our constitutional republic, legislatures are competent to change the law, and legal changes sometimes alter private rights, including use rights. The Takings Clause does not forbid such legal changes. It only requires compensation for property rights taken as a result.

To give use rights the constitutional protection that the Takings Clause requires, courts need a baseline of rightful property use to show when a change in the law that adversely affects use rights amounts to a taking. This essay proposes replacing the balancing test of Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City with a common law baseline.

Recommended Citation

Adam J. MacLeod, A Workable Common Law Baseline for Regulatory Takings, 20 J.L. Econ. & Pol'y 461 (2025).