In Penn Central Transportation Company v. City of New York (1978) the Court held that NYC’s Landmarks Preservation Law, preventing the building of a ___ atop a building designated “historic landmark” status, did not constitute a “taking without just compensation” in violation of the 5th and 14th Amendments.
In Home Building & Loan Assn. v. Blaisdell (1934)
the Court held that the Minnesota Mortgage Moratorium Act’s temporary and conditional relief from mortgage foreclosure does not impair the obligations of contracts in violation of the contract clause.
In so holding, the Court applied the ___ test developed in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), which is most deferential to state action, simply asking whether the law was a reasonable means of achieving a legitimate goal. Not many state actions fail this test.
In Munn v. Illinois (1877) the Court held that an Illinois law that allowed the fixing of the ___ charges for the storage of grain did not deprive the storage facility operators of property without due process of law. Therefore there was no violation of the 14th Amendment.
The three questions that the Court has been called upon to decide in cases arising under the takings clause include: 1) Is the compensation at issue “just”? 2) What constitutes a "taking"? and 3)
What constitutes a "public ___"? (Identifying these three questions, and describing the Court's holding in cases presenting each of these three questions to the Court, would be a good essay question.)
The idea that all people deserve fair treatment from the government is called ___. The 5th Amendment guarantees that "no person shall . . . be deprived of life, liberty or property, without ___ of law.” The 14th Amendment extends this protection from federal government actions state government actions: "….No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without ___ of law ….”
In the Slaughterhouse Cases (Butchers’ Benevolent Association v. Crescent City Livestock Landing & Slaughter House Company) (1873) the Court held that the statute restricting all butchering to take place only at the Crescent City Livestock Landing & Slaughter House Company did not deprive the butchers of their privileges and immunities as U.S. citizens, and did not deny them their ___ without due process of law in violation of the 14th Amendment.
In Kelo v. City of ___ (2005) the Court held that the use of eminent domain to seize property that is not in poor condition for the sole purpose of private business development in an economically depressed city is a “public use” that would authorize a taking under the 5th Amendment.
In United States v. 564.54 Acres of Land, the Court held that the “just compensation” required by the 5th Amendment for a taking pursuant to eminent domain does not require compensation for construction of ___ facilities. Fair market value is sufficient.
In United States v. Causby (1946) the Court held that the U.S. government's continuous use of the airspace 83 feet above the respondent’s land that infringed on both the enjoyment and productive use of that property did constitute a taking for which ___ is required pursuant to the 5th Amendment’s Takings Clause.
In Stone v. Mississippi (1880)
the Court held that the Mississippi state constitution’s prohibition against lotteries (and enforcement thereof by criminal statute), voiding a prior-created state-granted charter for the operation of a lottery, does not impair a contract in violation of the contract clause. This case, narrowing further the reach of the contract clause as a means of checking ___ exercises of authority, relied on the Court's reasoning that the legislature “cannot bargain away the police powers of a ___.”
In West Coast Hotel v. Parrish (1937) the Court overruled Adkins v. Children's Hospital in its decision that the state of Washington’s set minimum wages for women was a reasonable exercise of the police power of the state, and therefore did not violate the due process clause. The Court reasoned that the protection of women was a ___ goal of the exercise of state power. The requirement of the payment of a “minimum wage fairly fixed” in order “to meet the very necessities of existence” was an reasonable means to achieve that end.
In Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. (2009) the Court held that procedural due process requires that judges be ___, and thus judges must recuse themselves from cases involving major contributors to their campaigns.
In Nollan v. California Coastal Commission (1987) the Court held that :
California’s conditioning its issuance of a building permit on the property’s owner’s grant of an ___ is a “taking” for public use without just compensation in violation of the 5th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.
In Sveen v. Melin (2018) the Court held that
the Minnesota statute automatically revoking an ex-spouse as a beneficiary on a ___ insurance policy (unless the divorce decree mandates otherwise) does not impair contractual obligations in violation of the contract clause.
The portion of the 5th Amendment stating “…nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation” is known as the ___. This clause
acknowledges the inherent power of the federal government to seize private property for public use, and
limits the exercise of that power by ensuring that owners of the properties will be compensated.
In Allgeyer v. Louisiana (1897)
the Court held that a statute prohibiting purchasing ___ from an out-of-state company that does not comply with the state’s laws for doing business there did deprive defendants of liberty without due process of law in violation of the 14th Amendment.
In Fletcher v. Peck (1810) the Court held that the Georgia legislature’s rescinding of the bribery-induced Yazoo ___ contracts as they pertain to third party buyers and sellers is a violation of the contract clause.
In Williamson v. Lee Optical (1955) the Court held that Oklahoma’s law prohibiting that opticians “fit, adjust, adapt, or to apply . . . lenses, frames . . . or any other optical appliances to the face” without a prescription from a licensed ophthalmologist or optometrist is a constitutional exercise of state police power and not a due process clause violation. In so holding, the Court noted that "[t]he day is gone when this Court uses the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to strike down state laws, regulatory of ___ and industrial conditions, because they may be unwise, improvident, or out of harmony with a particular school of thought. . . . For protection against abuses by legislatures the people must resort to the polls, not to the courts.”
Current events issue: There are significant constitutional arguments for and against a renewed congressional attempt to pass a statute requiring ___ rules for US Supreme Court justices. (Describing those arguments, involving at least two major constitutional concepts we have discussed this semester, with examples, would be a good essay question.)