In Knick v. Township of Scott, PA., published June 21, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a district court decision and a Third Circuit decision dismissing a regulatory takings case as unripe. The plaintiff, on whose land neighbors were buried, challenged an ordinance that required cemeteries to be kept open and accessible to the public. The lower courts barred the suit based on Williamson County Regional Planning Comm'n v. Hamilton Bank, a 1985 Supreme Court case which held that property owners must seek just compensation under state law in a state court before bringing a federal takings claim under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 and the Fifth Amendment.
The Supreme Court held, 5-4, that Williamson County was poorly reasoned and should be overruled. The court held that inverse condemnation occurs at the time property is taken without just compensation--not, as Williamson County held, when state law proves inadequate to provide just compensation. Williamson County, in connection with another Supreme Court decision, San Remo Hotel v. City and County of San Francisco, created a "Catch-22" for property owners. The owners had to pursue a state law inverse condemnation before suing in federal court; but if the state court ruled there was no taking without just compensation, the Full Faith and Credit Clause require the federal court to honor that ruling and bar the federal claim. The majority found no reason to maintain the Williamson rule, and overruled the decision.
Justice Kagan, joined by three justices, dissented that the majority had improperly interpreted the takings clause, and that the decision violated stare decisis.
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