If you have been following the demands made on the parties by the US Supreme Court in Knick v. Township of Scott, here is the latest. If you haven’t done so, the quick summary is this: Ms. Knick’s petition for certiorari was granted, the case was briefed and oral arguments were held supposedly on the issue of whether the court should “revisit” (read, overrule) another bit of its wretched past takings handiwork consisting of Williamson County etc. v. Hamilton Bank. That judicial gem held inter alia that for baffling reasons in inverse condemnation cases (claiming “Just Compensation” for uncompensated government takings of property) and no others, the constitutionally aggrieved plaintiff may not sue in federal court, but rather must seek relief in state courts.
This had unanticipated consequences, namely, that if the plaintiff-owner followed Williamson County and sued in state court, the government defendants could remove it to federal court (being as the controversy involved the federal constitution) and then argue that the case should be dismissed because the plaintiff-owner should have sued in state court which of course he did, only to have his case removed by the defendant to federal court. No, we are not making this up. Nor are we making up the fact that many federal judges would then dismiss the case as being in the wrong court, with the result that there was no court where the constitutionally aggrieved property owner could have his case heard.
So the grant of certiorari in the Knick case was widely taken as a signal that SCOTUS had seen the error of its ways and was about to fix things. Then came the oral argument which made it clear that, to put it in printable language, their Lordships were out of it big time; some of them confused direct and inverse condemnation, one wanted to talk about abstention, one let it slip that she was trying to “get around” prior law, and another asked why not “let this sleeping dog lie.” In short, an intellectual disaster area.
Then came a ray of light. Acting on its own motion, the court ordered a reargument and asked for some additional letter-briefs from the parties, which have just been filed, by inter alia the US Solicitor General as amicus curiae who — surprise, surprise — for a change has taken a position favorable to the outcome sought by the plaintiff-owner. WoW!
Now, the parties have filed their respective letter-briefs and the commentariat has shifted into high gear. As regular readers of this blog know, our favorite is Robert Thomas’ blog www.inversecondemnation.com As usual, in this case Mr. Thomas does not disappoint. We won’t duplicate here his efforts, so, particularly if you are a credentialed takings junkie who wants to get into this stuff, we suggest you go to his blog and browse through the last few posts dealing with the Knick intellectual disaster.
But this post was supposed to be about the role of the US Solicitor General who is in the case as amicus curiae, wasn’t it? So here goes. The SG takes the position that the taking of property without contemporaneous compensation does not violate the Fifth Amendment as long as the owner is also provided with “a reasonable, certain, and adequate mechanism to obtain compensation.” However, continues the SG, in the meantime “the property owner is quite literally deprived of the Just Compensation mandated by the Constitution.” So, reasons the SG, that owner should be able to bring an action under Section 1983 in federal court “to vindicate that right.” What right? If the delay between the taking and the payment of compensation is not a violation of the Takings Clause, than what is the deprivation that is the proper basis for a lawsuit in federal court?
We await the denouement of this saga with bated breath. The next oral argument is scheduled for early January, and we may learn more then. Then again, we may not. So here comes our usual advice: Stay tuned.
Ooops, we almost forgot. The original argument too took place before an eight-Justice court, being as Justice Kavanaugh was not yet in the saddle. But he will be during the second oral argument. However, none of the usual crystal ball gazers can tell where he stands on the taking issue. So watch he dispatches from that second argument. It should be interesting.