Inverse Condemnation in Washington—Is the Lid Off Pandora's Box?

Authors

Russell A. Austin, Jr.

Abstract

Improvements and innovations designed to meet modern-day requirements of mass public transportation have spawned a number of legal problems, many of which the courts have attempted to resolve under an expanding concept of eminent domain. This ancient power, by which a sovereign may appropriate private property to public use, has not been a static doctrine. Rather it has served as an umbrella under which a multitude of varied and intricate theories, rules, and limitations have been developed by the judiciary to keep up with the increasing complexities of governmental functions and responsibilities. In Washington it may well be that modern transportation, by virtue of a single recent case, has generated a considerable extension of eminent domain under the title of inverse condemnation.

First Page

920

Recommended Citation

Russell A. Austin, Jr., Comment, Inverse Condemnation in Washington—Is the Lid Off Pandora's Box?, 39 Wash. L. Rev. 920 (1965).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wlr/vol39/iss5/5