Law Commons^™

Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Journal, Volume 2, William & Mary Law School

Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Journal

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Property

October 11-12, 2012

Panel 1: The Impact of a Leading Property Scholar

Panel 3: Property Rights in Times of Economic Crisis

Panel 4: Property's Moral Dimension

Property's Constitution, James Y. Stern

Faculty Publications

Long-standing disagreements over the definition of property as a matter of legal theory present a special problem in constitutional law. The Due Process and Takings Clauses establish individual rights that can be asserted only if “property” is at stake. Yet the leading cases interpreting constitutional property doctrines have never managed to articulate a coherent general view of property, and in some instances have reached opposite conclusions about its meaning. Most notably, government benefits provided in the form of individual legal entitlements are considered “property” for purposes of due process but not takings doctrines, a conflict the cases acknowledge but do …