Case brief summary
Government can regulate private property to protect public safety, but if the rule destroys too much value or use of the property, it becomes a taking that must be paid for.
Facts
A coal company sold land but kept rights to mine coal beneath it, with buyers accepting mining damage. A later law banned mining that caused buildings above to sink, making the reserved mining rights worthless.
Procedural history
The trial court blocked the law as unconstitutional. Pennsylvania's Supreme Court reversed, upholding the law and ordering an injunction against mining. The coal company appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Issue
Does applying this state law to stop the coal company from mining, without paying it anything, go beyond the government's police power and amount to an unconstitutional taking of property or an unconstitutional interference with a contract?
Holding
Yes. The law destroyed the coal company's property and contract rights without payment, counting as an unconstitutional taking under the Contract and Due Process Clauses.
Reasoning
The law destroyed nearly all practical value of the coal rights. Since this mainly protected private homes, not true public danger, and notice could have solved the problem, the law wrongly took property without compensation.
Opinions
Majority (Holmes): A regulation that destroys almost all the value of a legally reserved property right goes too far and becomes an unconstitutional taking without compensation.
Dissent (Brandeis): The law simply stopped a harmful use of land to protect public safety, which is a valid use of police power and not a taking requiring payment.