SALEM, Ore. -- A state judge on Friday declared unconstitutional a citizen initiative that requires state and local governments to either compensate landowners when regulations lower property values or waive the rules. Marion County Circuit Judge Mary James said the law breaches the separation of powers between government branches, intrudes on legislative authority and violates due process protection under the U.S. Constitution. Sixty-one percent of Oregon voters approved Measure 37 last year, after a property rights group mounted a campaign focusing on landowners who had been damaged financially by growth management or environmental rules.
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