A legal challenge to Proposition 207, the Private Property Rights Protection Act, was dismissed by the Arizona Supreme Court on August 31. The measure, if approved by voters on November 7, would restrict the government’s use of its eminent-domain power and require compensation for regulatory takings.
The lawsuit — brought by a coalition led by the League of Arizona Cities and Towns — argued that Proposition 207 doesn’t comply with a state law requiring that it identify a funding source.
Superior Court Judge Paul J. McMurdie, whose ruling the high court upheld, previously found that the plaintiffs had shown substantial evidence that the compensation-triggering provisions of the takings initiative were in violation of the funding-source requirement. But he held that the issue didn’t warrant removing the initiative from the ballot and that any challenge on that ground would have to come after the election. The Supreme Court will issue its opinion at a later date.