Court Opinion

ID: 9689459
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 18:34:01.458445+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:48.510173
License: Public Domain

ANDERSON, PAUL H., Justice
(concurring).
I concur in the opinion of the court. I write separately to temper, for my own part, the court’s very narrow characterization of our ability to exercise judicial review over what constitutes a public purpose sufficient to warrant the taking of private property under the eminent domain provisions of both the United States and Minnesota Constitutions. While the case before us today does not provide the proper occasion for an in-depth analysis of what type of takings case might require a more demanding standard of review, this court should not foreclose the possibility that a more stringent standard than what we articulate today might be appropriate under certain circumstances. Neither constitution permits a taking that confers benefits on particular, favored private entities with only incidental or pretextual public benefits; yet, the possibility definitely exists that such a case will come before us. If and when such a case comes before us, we must retain the ability to apply a sufficiently demanding level of scrutiny such that the constitutional right of the people of our state to remain secure in the ownership of private property may be protected.