February 2012

Here’s the final amicus brief supporting the petitioner in the case challenging New York City’s rent control ordinance. The case is in the cert stage (we posted the petition here, along with the other three amicus briefs supporting the petition), and although the respondents initially waived their response rights, the Court requested a response…

Here are the links to the cases and other items discussed today at the International Municipal Lawyers Association webinar with Dan Mandelker and Dwight Merriam. Most of these cases are also in your written materials.

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Today’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser carries a story on the Hawaii Supreme Court’s opinion in Hamilton v. Lethem, No. SCWC-27580 (Feb. 7, 2012), the case in which we successfully represented a father who challenged the lack of standards in “show cause” hearings in Family Courts under the Due Process Clause. The court held that Family Courts…

Hamilton v. Lethem, No. SCWC-27580 (Feb. 7, 2012), the opinion we posted about here is being hotly debated and discussed at the Volokh Conspiracy blog here.

Barista’s note (since we represented the petitioner): many of the comments on Volokh make judgments about whether Father’s acts constituted “abuse.” However, the point we made in…

What we’re reading today:

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Most of the cert petitions about eminent domain in recent years have focused on the “public use” side of the equation, and not on the “just compensation” side. That’s not surprising, since the Kelo issue (the power to take) has been the object of intense public interest, so much so that as eminent domain lawyers…

Mark your calendars: Dwight Merriam and his team at Robinson & Cole are conducting a webinar/teleconference CLE, “Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act Claims – Strategies for Local Governments to Avoid or Defend RLUIPA Actions.” Also on the faculty is Professor Marci Hamilton, one of the nation’s leading church/state scholars and…