Supreme Court Decision Alert - December 4, 2012

On December 5, 2012 the Supreme Court issued one decision, described below, of interest to the business community.

Takings Clause—Flooding

Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States – No. 11–597

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. The Supreme Court held today in Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States that the temporary nature of government-induced flooding of private property is not necessarily a bar to a takings claim.

Petitioner, the plaintiff below, owns the 23,000-acre Dave Donaldson Black River Wildlife Management Area along the Black River in Arkansas. The Clearwater Dam is located 115 miles upstream, in southeast Missouri. Petitioner filed a lawsuit alleging that, between 1993 and 2000, the Army Corps of Engineers improperly deviated from a 1953 operating plan for the dam, which caused increased flooding and damaged trees in