Property and the First Amendment

The last decade has seen an increased recognition of property rights in Supreme Court analysis. This is most evident in the area of takings law, where the Court has on at least four occasions expanded property rights relative to government regulation. Perhaps even more significant than the results themselves has been the Court\u27s tone in these decisions, where it has emphasized that property rights are to be taken seriously and are not a poor relation to other constitutional safeguards. This has led some commentators to suggest that recognition of property rights is becoming a primary agenda item of the Court