Constitutional Law
Aug. 27, 2025
No end run around the constitution
The North Carolina Supreme Court held in Town of Apex v. Rubin that if a government's attempted taking of private property fails the constitutional "public use" requirement, title must return to the owner and inverse condemnation cannot be twisted into a tool for the government to keep what it had no right to take.
Michael M. Berger
Senior Counsel
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP
2049 Century Park East
Los Angeles , CA 90067
Phone: (310) 312-4185
Fax: (310) 996-6968
Email: mmberger@manatt.com
USC Law School
Michael M. Berger is senior counsel at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, where he is co-chair of the Appellate Practice Group. He has argued four takings cases in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Now and then, property owners faced with condemnation choose to challenge the taking as not being for a public use. (Quick reminder: the constitution requires that such takings be for a public use and accompanied by just compensation.) The Town of Apex, North Carolina recently ran afoul of the public use requirement. The decision of the North Carolina Supreme Court has a lesson in it that other courts - including California's - should heed. See Town of Apex v. Rubin...
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