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Constitutional Law Keyed to Chemerinsky
Brown v. Legal Foundation of Washington
Citation:
538 U.S. 216 (2003)Facts
The State of Washington used interest on lawyers’ trust accounts (IOLTA) to pay for legal services provided to needy clients. The program was established by the state supreme court. The Supreme Court had previously ruled that IOLTA funds were the private property of the owner of the principal account in Phillips v. Washington. The Court left open the question of whether the funds could be taken. Brown argued that this was an unconstitutional taking.
The takings clause does not prohibit taking private property; it prohibits taking private property without just compensation. Just compensation is determined by the property owner’s loss.
Here, Brown’s losses were net zero because it was only the interest on the accounts (as opposed to the principal).
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