The State of Washington established a program to provide legal services for the needy. The program, called Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA), required that clients deposit their legal payments into trust accounts, and that the interest earned on such accounts would be channeled to a nonprofit organization. This organization would then use the interest earned to fund charitable legal services and for educational purposes. The program was later extended to include nonlawyer limited practice officers (LPOs).
Several parties, including two individuals who frequently bought and sold real estate, brought suit against the nonprofit organization, alleging that the payments they made to LPOs via IOLTA accounts resulted in an unlawful taking of interest earned on those accounts. Because they did not receive just compensation for this taking, the two individuals contended that the organization violated their Fifth Amendment rights.
The district and appellate courts both argued that there had been no taking and that even if there had been a taking, the amount of just compensation would be zero. The two individuals appealed. Explain why you believe the U.S. Supreme Court either upheld or overturned the decision of the appellate court. Brown v. Legal Foundation of Washington, 538 U.S. 216 (2003).