Opinion ID: 1368121
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the taking of private property for a public use without just compensation

Text: The right of the State to exercise its police power and right of taxation in the public interest is limited by the constitutional principle that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. [7] In effect, this principle affords the same protection against unreasonable and arbitrary government action that is found in the equal protection clauses. Thus, although the police power permits the State to regulate the use of an individual's property in order to protect the public health, safety and welfare, such regulation has its limits. If it goes too far it will be recognized as a taking requiring the individual affected to receive just compensation. Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U.S. 393, 415, 43 S.Ct. 158, 67 L.Ed. 322 (1922). We find that HRS § 388-32 goes beyond the mere regulation of property and amounts to taking within the meaning of article I, section 18 of the Hawaii Constitution. In enacting HRS § 388-32 the legislature attempted to shift to private employers some of the cost of running the public enterprises of juries and public boards and commissions. In this case money, instead of realty, is being taken for a public use. However, we see no difference between the taking of money to pay public employees and the taking of realty to house government institutions. In both instances, the State is seeking to enhance the economic value of a government enterprise at the direct expense of a particular individual or group. This is precisely the kind of government taking which requires just compensation. [8] Nor can this taking of private property be justified under the State's power of taxation. HRS § 388-32 is not a general tax measure. Consequently, if it is a proper exercise of the taxing power it must be justified as a special assessment imposed on a particular group in society for a special benefit they have received. City of Glendale v. Trondsen, 48 Cal.2d 93, 102, 308 P.2d 1, 6 (1957). [9] However, as we have seen, private employers receive no special benefit from the administration of public boards and commissions or the jury system. Therefore we hold that HRS § 388-32, not being justified under either the police power or taxing power of the State, amounts to a taking of private property for a public use without just compensation in violation of article I, sections 18 and 4 of the Hawaii Constitution and the fourteenth amendment of the United States Constitution. Judgment reversed.