The Castor Family of Pennsylvania

clause comes into play.1 25. Requirements of Federal Constitution.?It has already been explained that a taking of property for private use cannot be authorized by Congress without violating the fifth amendment to the constitution of the United States, and that such a taking when authorized by a state is in violation of the fourteenth amendment.11 Occasionally it happens that a decision of a state court that a taking is for a public use, involving only the constitutionality of a state statute under the usual constitutional provisions, is brought before the Supreme Court of the United States under the due process clause. Such questions more frequently arise under special constitutional provisions found in several of the states declaring certain uses as public which are generally not considered such. Such provisions are of course binding on the state courts so far as the constitution of the states are concerned, but they cannot override the fourteenth amendment; and a state statute which provides for the taking of property for a private use, though specifically authorized by the constitution of the state, would be overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States.12 or even by the highest court of the state itself, since the federal constitution is binding on the courts of every state, notwithstanding any provision in its own constitution. Especially would this be the case when the state constitution does not declare a certain use to be public, but merely provides t... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.