Washington, DC – After oral argument in the significant Fifth Amendment “takings” case at the Supreme Court in Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, Constitutional Accountability Center President Doug Kendall – who was in the court today to watch the argument – had the following reaction:

“This case involves the ability of federal, state, and local governments to ensure that developers pay for the very real costs that their development imposes on the community. It appeared at oral argument today that a majority of Justices were skeptical of the merits of the claim alleged. Justice Scalia repeatedly asked counsel for Mr. Koontz, ‘Where is the taking here?’ That’s the right question, and the correct answer is, ‘There is none.’”

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Resources:

CAC’s “friend of the court” brief in Koontz, filed on behalf of the American Planning Association, the City of New York, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation: http://theusconstitution.org/cases/koontz-v-st-johns-river-water-management-district 

“Commentary: The takings clause meets the Roberts Court,” January 14, 2013: http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleSCI.jsp?id=1202583850829 (subscription required, full text available on request)

“Property Rights Advocates Can’t Handle the Truth: Chief Justice Roberts, Takings Litigation, and Koontz,” January 14, 2013: https://theusconstitution.org/text-history/1767/property-rights-advocates-can%E2%80%99t-handle-truth-chief-justice-roberts-takings

“Too Rich to Lose Money? AIG, the Takings Clause and the Roberts Court,” January 14, 2013: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-kendall/too-rich-to-lose-money-ai_b_2471584.html

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Constitutional Accountability Center (www.theusconstitution.org) is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history.

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