Supreme Court Considers Property Rights and Taxation Disputes

The Supreme Court is considering a case brought by a 94-year-old woman who claims that a Minnesota county violated the Constitution by retaining a $25,000 profit when it sold her home in a tax foreclosure sale. The Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing the woman, calls the practice "home equity theft" and is asking the Supreme Court to end it. The court will decide if such seizures violate the takings clause of the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment, which requires that the government pay compensation when property is taken.