Update On Union Access To Property

On January 6, 2021, we  blogged about two California farms' challenges to California's regulation requiring agricultural producers to grant unions access to their property to recruit workers.  The regulation required access for three hours a day – one hour before work started, one hour at lunch and one hour after work – for a maximum of 120 days per year.  The Ninth Circuit held that this regulation did not constitute a per se taking for purposes of the Fifth Amendment because it did not require access on a 24/7 basis.

In a 6-3 opinion on clear ideological lines, the Supreme Court reversed.  The majority opinion held that the Court had recognized two kinds of takings:  physical occupation of property, which is a per se taking, and regulatory takings, when the regulation goes "too far."