Whether the Takings Clause applies when the government takes property for a compelling public use pursuant to its police power

QUESTION PRESENTED When the government acquires private property for a public use, the Takings Clause requires the government to provide the owner with “just compensation.” The Third, Sixth, Seventh, Tenth, and Federal Circuits, however, have held that the Takings Clause does not apply when government takes property pursuant to its “police power,” while the Fourth Circuit disagrees. Below, the Fifth Circuit adopted a middle road, while explicitly breaking with the Seventh, Tenth, and Federal Circuits. The court below held that the government’s actions cannot constitute a taking when they were “objectively necessary.” That holding doomed the claim of petitioner, a concededly innocent homeowner whose house was destroyed by the police in pursuit of a dangerous fugitive. The question presented is whether the Takings Clause applies even when the government takes property for a particularly compelling public use. ii STATEMENT OF