Justices Debate Issues In an Oceanfront Case.

WASHINGTON -- A project to restore eroded beaches in the Florida Panhandle did not violate the Constitution's takings clause even though the state claimed ownership of the strip of land the project created next to the ocean, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. The vote was 8 to 0 against property owners who challenged a ruling of the Florida Supreme Court that had, as they put it, turned oceanfront property into ocean-view property. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]