Since the U.S. Supreme Court rendered its decision last month in Knick v. Township of Scott, Pennsylvania, 588 U.S.        (June 21, 2019), a good deal of the commentary about the case has focused on the fate of stare decisis and the court’s rejection in Knick of its own precedential decision from 1985.

Although there is much to debate about those issues, the court’s ruling in Knick has special practical significance for property owners, state and local governments and officials with zoning and land use responsibilities, and federal judges in New York and across the country who are likely to see a substantial increase in takings claims in which they will have to interpret and apply state property laws.