Griggs v. Allegheny County

Summary

The Court, in an opinion by Justice Douglas, held that frequent, low-altitude airport flights that rendered Griggs' home unbearable for residential use constituted a taking of an air easement requiring compensation under the Fourteenth Amendment. Allegheny County, as the airport's promoter, owner, and lessor responsible for its location and design, was the taker, rather than the airlines or the Federal Government. The Court reversed the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Justice Black, joined by Justice Frankfurter, dissented: he accepted that a taking occurred under Causby but concluded that the Federal Government had taken the airspace through its comprehensive regulation and statutory designation of navigable airspace, and would have affirmed.