A dispute about who owns garbage? A court case over who gets to operate San Quentin Prison? A fight regarding use of a church pew? Bizarre as these examples sound, each was a real court case in either the United States or Australia, in which the government took private property. In clear, simple language this volume presents some of the quirkier "takings" cases in the history of the law, which have often left everyone scratching their heads in bewilderment.