Los Angeles Avoids Damages Bill on Appeal Over Police Standoff

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that damage caused by Los Angeles police amid a standoff at a business owner’s property didn’t amount to a taking under the Fifth Amendment.

A district court didn’t err when it denied Carlos Pena’s motion for summary judgment against the city of Los Angeles, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said in an opinion by Judge Mark J. Bennett. Pena contended that he sufficiently alleged a prima facie case and cited sufficient precedent to show that the city owes him damages under the just compensation clause.

“The meaning of the Takings ...