In many cases, around the nation, law enforcement agencies have damaged or destroyed the homes and businesses of innocent citizens. In many cases, when property owners seek compensation under the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause (which mandates payment of “just” compensation for government takings of private property), the law enforcement agency claims that they are not required to pay compensation because their actions fall under the “police powers” exception to liability. In the latest instance, an LA SWAT squad damaged an innocent man’s store while trying to arrest a suspect.
Reason’s Billy Binion summarizes the events:
Carlos Pena took decades to build up his local business, after moving to North Hollywood from El Salvador. It took only a few minutes to destroy the business.
While Pena is the one who created NoHo Printing & Graphics, where he fashioned commercial signs and banners, T-shirts, headshots, and other products, he is not the one who did the damage, despite the…
