The State Constitutional Case Against Exclusionary Zoning
- Author(s):
- Joshua Braver, Ilya Somin
- Posted:
- 07-2026
- Legal Studies #:
- 26-14
- Availability:
- Full text (most recent) on SSRN
ABSTRACT:
Exclusionary zoning is the biggest cause of the housing crisis besetting many parts of the United States. This Article shows how state constitutions can be used to combat it through two complementary paths: litigation under existing constitutional provisions and constitutional amendment. It provides the first comprehensive account of state constitutional jurisprudence on exclusionary zoning across all fifty states. It finds that state courts have rarely imposed meaningful limits, but uses this body of law as a foundation for expanding constitutional protection.
Most state courts have interpreted their takings clauses in lockstep with federal doctrine, including the highly deferential Penn Central test. New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey have developed more aggressive approaches. But their equivocal results have led many scholars to conclude that courts have little useful role to play.
We reject that conclusion. We identify two effective and judicially administrable approaches grounded in state takings and due process doctrine. The Article also proposes state constitutional amendments that would require compensation for exclusionary zoning, categorically prohibit specified exclusionary practices, or adopt more limited reforms. Together, litigation and amendment offer a practical state constitutional strategy for addressing exclusionary zoning.