Part One - The Structure of Government · Module 2A
The Takings Clause
When regulation becomes confiscation: possessory and regulatory takings, exactions, public use, and just compensation.
Topics
Text and applicability. What counts as property. Possessory takings. Regulatory takings. Exactions. Public use. Just compensation.
Reading list
0 of 14 readings published · the rest are in preparation and will appear here as they are edited
- Opinion Loretto v. Teleprompter Manhattan CATV Corp.
- Note Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid
- Note Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon
- Note Miller v. Schoene
- Opinion Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City
- Opinion Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council
- Note Horne v. Department of Agriculture
- Note Palazzolo v. Rhode Island
- Note Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council, Inc. v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
- Note Nollan v. California Coastal Commission
- Note Dolan v. City of Tigard
- Note Sheetz v. County of El Dorado
- Opinion Kelo v. City of New London
- Note Brown v. Legal Foundation of Washington
- Current case BBLI Edison, LLC v. City of Chicago, No. 25-1713 (7th Cir. July 22, 2026) (Scudder, J.) (tenant relocation-assistance ordinance challenged as a physical and a regulatory taking).
How to read this list
A case named without a marker is assigned as an opinion and is to be read in its entirety. Opinion (edited) means the Professor has cut it for length; the text on this site is the assigned text. Note means the case is not assigned as an opinion at all — its holding, its facts to the extent they matter, and its place in the doctrinal line are given in a note written for this course, and you are responsible for that note exactly as you are responsible for an assigned opinion. Most modules close with a Current case, a recent decision chosen because it shows the doctrine you have just read being applied at its live edge; current cases are assigned as opinions. You are responsible for all assigned required materials, including the notes, questions, problems and commentary that accompany the cases, whether or not we discuss them in class.