Justices blast property 'shakedown' by government

 

In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court today called a halt to a government “shakedown” procedure in Florida that required a landowner to pay up to $150,000 to be allowed to develop several acres of ground.

“Extortionate demands for property in the land-use permitting context run afoul of the Takings Clause not because they take property but because they impermissibly burden the right not to have property taken without just compensation,” the opinion said. “It is settled that the unconstitutional conditions doctrine applies even when the government threatens to withhold a gratuitous benefit.”

In the Florida case, a water district demanded a property owner pay up to $150,000 to develop land originally purchased by his father.

The case was argued by the Pacific Legal Foundation on behalf of the Koontz family.

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