LINGLE, GOVERNOR OF HAWAII, et al. v. CHEVRON U. S. A. INC., 544 U.S. ---
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LINGLE, GOVERNOR OF HAWAII, et al. v. CHEVRON U. S. A. INC.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
No. 04-163.Argued February 22, 2005--Decided May 23, 2005
Concerned about the effects of market concentration on retail gasoline prices, the Hawaii Legislature passed Act 257, which limits the rent oil companies may charge dealers leasing company-owned service stations. Respondent Chevron U. S. A. Inc., then one of the largest oil companies in Hawaii, brought this suit seeking a declaration that the rent cap effected an unconstitutional taking of its property and an injunction against application of the cap to its stations. Applying Agins v. City of Tiburon, 447 U. S. 255, 260--where this Court declared that government regulation of private property "effects a taking if [it] does not substantially advance legitimate state interests"--the District Court held that the rent cap effects an uncompensated taking in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments because it does not substantially advance Hawaii's asserted interest in controlling retail gas prices. The Ninth Circuit affirmed.
Held: Agins' "substantially advance[s]" formula is not an appropriate test for determining whether a regulation effects a Fifth Amendment taking. Pp. 6-19.