In Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that a South Carolina environmental preservation law barring a property owner from building any houses on his beachfront land is a “taking” by the government requiring that “just compensation” be paid. The Court rules that it is not necessary for a property owner to be “ousted” altogether from the property to be entitled to “just compensation” from the government; a taking also results if the property owner is required to “sacrifice all economically beneficial uses” of it.