Here’s a collection of the reports and commentary beginning to come in about the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion in the “ceded lands” case, Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs, No. 07-1372 (Mar. 31, 2009):
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What to make of the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion in the “ceded lands” case, Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs, No. 07-1372 (Mar. 31, 2009), beyond the narrow holding that the Apology Resolution had no legal effect? Think about these points, if you will:
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The U.S. Supreme Court held that a Congressional resolution apologizing for the United States’ role in the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom was just an apology, and had no legal effect. In an opinion for a unanimous Court authored by Justice Alito, the Court held:
The Supreme Court of Hawaii erred in reading § 3…
A unanimous Supreme Court, in an opinion authored by Justice Alito has reversed and remanded the Hawaii Supreme Court in the “ceded lands” case. The opinion is posted here.
More to follow after a chance to read the opinion, but here’s the short story:
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Our thanks to Robert S. Poliner, the Connecticut Ombudsman for Property Rights for permitting us to republish his review of Jeff Benedict’s Little Pink House – A True Story of Defiance and Courage (Grand Central Publishing 2009) (available from Amazon here), the recently published book about the infamous U.S. Supreme Court eminent domain…
Here are the latest opinions of interest from the Court of Federal Claims, which has nationwide jurisdiction over inverse condemnation and regulatory takings claims against the federal government where the compensation sought exceeds $10,000:
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The U.S. Supreme Court has denied review to Agripost, LLC v. Miami-Dade County, Florida, No. 08-567 (cert. petition filed Oct. 27, 2008), another case asking the Court to overrule Williamson County Regional Planning Comm’n v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City, 473 U.S. 172 (1985), the decision that gave us the weird ripeness rules…
There’s still time to register for two teleconferences that are a part of the ABA State and Local Government Section’s “Virtual Spring Meeting.” I hope you can join us for at least one of the programs.
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In 1999, without asking the owner’s permission, the federal government constructed a 35,000 square foot “borrow pit” on a parcel in a remote corner of Texas. The owner did not learn about the government’s activities until 2004, when a migrant worker who had crossed the property to access the Rio Grande told him about it.
“Unlike Bulgo, in this case there is no evidence in the record that any company, other than Superferry, met the definition provided by section 2 when Act 2 was enacted.”
Sierra Club v. Dep’t of Transportation, No. 29035 slip op. at 36 (March 16, 2009) (emphasis added)
If you take away…
