The decision has implications that go beyond the Map Act and the taking of property for road-building. Had the ruling gone the other way, it might well have opened the door to uncompensated takings in various other situations, as well. There are many situations where the state might want to lower the value of property by indefinitely banning development, so it can then take the property at a later date in order to use it for a public project, or even to transfer it to influential private interests under the guise of promoting “economic development” or alleviating blight. Such takings were ruled to be permissible “public uses” by the Supreme Court in the controversial Kelo case in 2005, and are still permitted in all too many states even in the aftermath of the massive political backlash against Kelo.

Opinion by
Contributor, The Volokh Conspiracy
June 12, 2016 at 3:35 p.m. UTC
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