Also known as: state's police power · police power of the state · states' police powers · police power
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The inherent authority vested in each state to enact and enforce legislation protecting the public health, safety, morals, and general welfare, provided the means bear a reasonable relation to those ends.
Sierra Santos owned land in a growing suburb. The city enacted an ordinance dividing districts and barring industrial uses on her parcel to reduce traffic and protect residential character. The classification advanced public health and welfare, so the ordinance stood as a valid exercise of state police power.
Steven Silva operated a bakery and faced a state law capping employee hours at ten per day. The restriction lacked a direct tie to worker health or safety and instead imposed a general labor rule. The court held the statute exceeded the state's police power.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Simone Sanders sought a permit to rebuild her beachfront home. The commission required a public easement across her lot as a condition. The demand lacked an essential nexus to any harm caused by the rebuild, rendering the condition an invalid use of police power.
Southland Foods owned a warehouse abutting a narrow city street. The city widened the road under its police power and took a strip of the lot. The taking triggered just compensation even though the project served public safety.
Solomon Silver led a religious group that performed animal sacrifices in private ceremonies. The city banned such practices to protect public morals. The ordinance targeted religious conduct and therefore exceeded the state's police power.
Sabrina Shah lived with her grandson and his children in a single-family zone. The city ordinance limited households to nuclear families only. The restriction bore no rational relation to density or traffic control and fell outside the police power.
The power reaches only measures that reasonably advance public health, safety, morals, or general welfare. Arbitrary or unrelated restrictions exceed that authority.
Comprehensive zoning that separates uses and bears a reasonable relation to health or welfare qualifies as a valid exercise. Uneven or arbitrary application to particular parcels may still fail.
Yes when the regulation directly protects public health, such as compulsory vaccination laws. The means must remain reasonably calculated to the stated goal.
A valid police-power regulation may still effect a taking if it denies all economically viable use or imposes an unrelated exaction. Courts apply separate tests for those issues.
…violates the constitutional protection “to the right of property in the appellee by attempted regulations under the guise of the police power, which are unreasonable and confiscatory?” Building zone laws are of modern origin. They began in this country about twenty-five years ago. Until recent years, urban life was comparatively…