 Under American law, however, this power does not extend to the outright divestiture of title to private property, nor to the de facto equivalent of it.Instead, the power of eminent domain is a separate and distinct power which allows a government to divest a property owner of the title or utility of such property, but when it does so, it must pay just compensation.Some states, not the federal government, use the full compensation standard, not the just compensation standard.