ADVANCES IN PRIVATE PROPERTY PROTECTION RIGHTS - THE STATES IN THE VANGUARD

The question of how best to balance this nation's fundamental commitme nt to protecting an individual's private property rights with the publ ic's vital interest in environmental preservation and other public int erests expressed through land-use regulation is an extremely difficult one. The last two decades have witnessed numerous United States Supre me Court decisions involving private property rights that seem to sign al a renewed emphasis on determining just how far government can go in limiting the right to use one's property as he or she sees fit in ord er to further the public's interest in, for instance, environmental pr otection, without having to pay compensation to the landowner. Reflect ing the view, however, that the Court has not gone far or fast enough to protect property rights, several state legislatures have passed sta tutes that go well beyond current constitutional protections in order to protect property rights, and their number may well be growing. Give n the highly emotional nature of the issues involved, and the strongly -held views of those on both sides, these statutes are seen as either a curse or a blessing. While their impact is presently unclear, they w ill certainly affect, for good or ill, the way government does busines s with landowners when it seeks to achieve public benefit at private e xpense.