In “Supreme Court’s Regulatory Takings Case Draws Widespread Interest,” the New York Times reports about yesterday’s filings by amici supporting the government in the beachfront taking case, Stop the Beachfront Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep’t of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11 (cert. granted. June 15, 2009):
The Supreme Court would likely resist such overt involvement intakings disputes, according to Jay Austin, senior attorney with theEnvironmental Law Institute.
“The only thing that petitionershave to cite to even suggest any precedent is a concurring opinion byformer Justice Potter Stewart in another beach case 40 years ago,”Austin said.
“Well, he’s the justice who famously said aboutobscenity that ‘I’ll know it when I see it.'” This case would put thejustices in the same position, he said, adding: “Just like they had toscreen films in the basement of the Supreme Court to see whether theywere obscene, they’d have to wade into all of these individualdisputes, and I’m not sure that’s something they want to do.”
We posted the briefs here. The government’s merits briefs are posted here.
In August, the Times ran a similar story about the amici supporting the property owners.
We filed an amicus brief supporting the property owners, which is available here (yesterday, the Court granted our motion to file the brief out of time).
The property owners’ merits brief is available here. The other amici briefs supporting the property owners are posted here, here, and here.
All briefs and more about the case on our resource page and in this report from the Destin Log (the hometown newpaper).
Oral arguments in the Supreme Court are set for December 2, 2009.