Homeowner heist? Supreme Court to decide limits of property seizures to satisfy tax debts

It sounds like a Big Brother nightmare: The home of a 94-year-old grandmother is seized by the state for unpaid taxes, and all the sale proceeds — far above what she actually owed — go to public coffers.

Now the U.S. Supreme Court will debate and decide a tricky property rights case involving a legal David vs. Goliath with nationwide implications for the power of the state to order homeowners to pay up or risk lose everything. Despite the seeming power imbalance, both sides have raised strong legal arguments that will not be easy to resolve on the merits.

Oral arguments are scheduled for Wednesday, the last case for the high court to be publicly debated this term.