Opinion of the Court
of each State, a deliberate choice that this Court must respect. As in other areas where the exercise of federal authority or the vindication of federal rights implicates questions of state law, we have an obligation to ensure that state court interpretations of that law do not evade federal law.
State law, for example, “is one important source” for defining property rights. Tyler v. Hennepin County, 598 U. S. ___, ___ (2023) (slip op., at 5); see also Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth, 408 U. S. 564, 577 (1972) (property rights “are created and their dimensions are defined by existing rules or understandings that stem from an independent source such as state law”). At the same time, the Federal Constitution provides that “private property” shall not “be taken for public use, without just compensation.” Amdt. 5. As a result, States “may not sidestep the Takings Clause by disavowing traditional property interests.” Phillips v. Washington Legal Foundation, 524 U. S. 156, 164 (1998); see also Webb’s Fabulous Pharmacies, Inc. v. Beckwith, 449 U. S. 155, 164 (1980) (holding that States may not, “by ipse dixit, … transform private property into public property without compensation”).
A similar principle applies with respect to the Contracts Clause, which provides that “[n]o state shall … pass any … Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts.” Art. I, §10, cl. 1. In that context “we accord respectful consideration and great weight to the views of the State’s highest court.” Indiana ex rel. Anderson v. Brand, 303 U. S. 95, 100 (1938). Still, “in order that the constitutional mandate may not become a dead letter, we are bound to decide for ourselves whether a contract was made.” Ibid.; see also General Motors Corp. v. Romein, 503 U. S. 181, 187 (1992).
Cases raising the question whether adequate and independent grounds exist to support a state court judgment involve a similar inquiry. We have in those cases considered whether a state court opinion below adopted novel reasoning to stifle the “vindication in state courts of … federal
