Cite as: 526 U. S. 687 (1999)
Syllabus
(b) Del Monte Dunes' § 1983 suit is an action at law for Seventh Amendment purposes. Pp. 708-711.
(1) That Amendment applies not only to common-law causes of action but also to statutory causes of action analogous to common-law causes of action ordinarily decided in English law courts in the late 18th century, as opposed to those customarily heard by courts of equity or admiralty. E. g., Feltner v. Columbia Pictures Television, Inc., 523 U. S. 340, 348. Pp. 708-709. (2) A § 1983 suit seeking legal relief is an action at law within the Seventh Amendment's meaning. It is undisputed that when the Amendment was adopted there was no action equivalent to § 1983. It is settled law, however, that the Amendment's jury guarantee extends to statutory claims unknown to the common law, so long as the claims can be said to "soun[d] basically in tort," and seek legal relief. Curtis v. Loether, 415 U. S. 189, 195-196. There can be no doubt that § 1983 claims sound in tort. See, e. g., Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U. S. 477, 483. Here Del Monte Dunes sought legal relief in the form of damages for the unconstitutional denial of just compensation. Damages for a constitutional violation are a legal remedy. See, e. g., Teamsters v. Terry, 494 U. S. 558, 570. Pp. 709-711. (c) The particular liability issues were proper for determination by the jury. Pp. 718-722.
(1) In making this determination, the Court looks to history to determine whether the particular issues, or analogous ones, were decided by judge or by jury in suits at common law at the time the Seventh Amendment was adopted. Where history does not provide a clear answer, the Court looks to precedent and functional considerations. Markman, supra, at 384. P. 718.
(2) There is no precise analogue for the specific test of liability submitted to the jury in this case, although some guidance is provided by the fact that, in suits sounding in tort for money damages, questions of liability were usually decided by the jury, rather than the judge. Pp. 718-719.
(3) None of the Court's regulatory takings precedents has addressed the proper allocation of liability determinations between judge and jury in explicit terms. In Williamson County Regional Planning Comm'n v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City, 473 U. S. 172, 191, the Court assumed the propriety of submitting to the jury the question whether a county planning commission had denied the plaintiff landowner all economically viable use of the property. However, because Williamson is not a direct holding, further guidance must be found in considerations of process and function. Pp. 719-720.
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