Keystone Bituminous Coal Assn. et al. v. Debenedictis, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, et al. (480 U.S. 470)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 9, 1987 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 480 U.S. 470 · 107 S. Ct. 1232
- Decided
- March 9, 1987
- Term
- October Term 1986
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Stevens
- Issue area
- Due Process
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Stevens, delivered the opinion of the Court. In Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U. S. 393 (1922), the Court reviewed the constitutionality of a Pennsylvania statute that admittedly destroyed “previously existing rights of property and contract.” Id., at 413. Writing for the Court, Justice Holmes explained: “Government hardly could go on if to some extent values incident to property could not be diminished without paying for every such change in the general law. As long recognized, some values are enjoyed under an implied limitation and must yield to the police power. But obviously the implied limitation must have its limits, or the contract and due process clauses are gone. One fact for consideration in determining such limits is the extent of the diminution. When it reaches a certain magnitude, in most if not in all cases there must be an exercise of eminent domain and compensation to sustain the act. So the question depends upon the particular facts.” Ibid. In that case the “particular facts” led the Court to hold that the Pennsylvania Legislature had gone beyond its constitutional powers when it enacted a statute prohibiting the mining of anthracite coal in a manner that would cause the subsidence of land on which certain structures were located. Now, 65 years later, we address a different set of “particular facts,” involving the Pennsylvania Legislature’s 1966…
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