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Substantive Due Process In The Twilight Zone: Protecting Property Interests From Arbitrary Land Use Decisions, Stewart M. Wiener

Stewart M. Wiener

Substantive due process protection of the property rights of landowners against arbitrary government decisionmaking is integral to the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Federal courts have taken divergent paths in addressing the nature of the property interest required to state a substantive due process claim, and the standard by which arbitrary and capricious government conduct is evaluated. Under substantive due process, an allegation of arbitrary government conduct should be evaluated under a meaningful standard, rather than the unthinking deference of the rational basis test. Strong protection of property interests protects the civil rights of individuals, rather than protecting …