Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad v. City of Chicago

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad v. City of Chicago, 166 U.S. 226 (1897), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court.

The City of Chicago condemned a strip of land for a street opening. The railroad was awarded one dollar in compensation. The railroad argued that the compensation was inadequate and that the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause requires just compensation for property taken for public use.

Significance

The Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to provide just compensation when they take private property for public use. This was the first decision incorporating a Bill of Rights protection (in this case, the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment) against the states. The decision laid the foundation for the incorporation doctrine, though the Court did not explicitly articulate it as such at the time.

Category

US Federal Case Law