Bay Point Properties v. Mississippi Transportation Commission

Amicus Brief

Bay Point Properties v. Mississippi Transportation Commission

Allowing Mississippi’s scheme to stand will invite other states to adopt similar legislative schemes by which states may redefine private property.

Motion For Leave To File Brief For Amici Curiae And Brief For Reason Foundation, Cato Institute, National Federation Of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center, Southeastern Legal Foundation, National Association Of Reversionary Property Owners, Property Rights Foundation Of America, And Professors James W. Ely, Jr., Shelley Ross Saxer And Ilya Somin As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioner

This Court should grant certiorari to vindicate this Court’s Fifth Amendment jurisprudence and overturn a scheme by which Mississippi and other states may redefine private property to be public property without honoring the constitutional obligation to justly compensate the owner.

This Court should grant Bay Point’s petition because the Mississippi Supreme Court’s decision contravenes this Court’s Just Compensation Clause jurisprudence. By affirming a legislative scheme that allows a state to redefine private property to be public property without justly compensating the owner the Mississippi Supreme Court’s decision undermines the Fifth Amendment.

Allowing Mississippi’s scheme to stand will invite other states to adopt similar legislative schemes by which states may redefine private property to be public property and escape the constitutional obligation to justly compensate the owner.

Full Brief (.pdf)