From [HERE] Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s order closing all “non-life-sustaining” businesses as a means to combat the spread of the coronavirus constitutes an uncompensated taking in violation of the Fifth Amendment, a federal class action lawsuit has claimed. The complaint states:

‘The Governor and the Secretary have seized without compensation the property of businesses and the livelihoods of individuals across the Commonwealth, forcing indefinite closures and widespread layoffs. These uncompensated seizures violate the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, made applicable to States through the Fourteenth Amendment, and also violate well-established notions of Substantive and Procedural Due Process. Plaintiffs respectfully request that this Court (i) declare the Governor’s actions unconstitutional, and (ii) order the payment of just compensation.

The Governor and Secretary issued a series of Executive Orders on March 19 and March 20, 2020 (“COVID-19 Closure Orders” or “Orders”), for the public purpose of protecting Pennsylvania’s public health, safety and welfare. The Governor has placed the cost of these Orders – issued for the benefit of the public – squarely upon the shoulders of private individuals and their families, and has failed to justly compensate affected parties for these takings undertaken for their benefit to the public. Without extending constitutionally required just compensation to Plaintiffs and those similarly situated, these Orders jeopardize the sustainability of many Pennsylvania businesses and the livelihoods those businesses provide to individuals. In support of this demand for relief, Plaintiffs state as.

It also explains, “The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment provides that private property shall not “be taken for public use, without just compensation.” U.S. CONST. AMEND. V. 101.

The Takings Clause “is designed not to limit the governmental interference withproperty rights per se, but rather to secure compensation in the event of otherwise proper interference amounting to a taking.” Lingle v. Chevron U.S.A. Inc., 544 U.S. 528, 536–37 (2005)(quoting First English Evangelical Lutheran Church of Glendale v. County of Los Angeles, 482U.S. 304, 315 (1987) (emphasis in original)).

The Takings Clause bars government actors “from forcing some people alone to bear public burdens which, in all fairness and justice, should be borne by the public as a whole.” Armstrong v. United States, 364 U.S. 40, 49 (1960).“ [MORE]