Thanks to Municipal Minute for pointing out a new blog that should be of interest to our readers. Our friend and colleague Dwight Merriam and his firm are publishing RLUIPA Defense a “one-stop comprehensive site stocked with cases, trial materials, briefs and scholarly articles all about avoiding and defending against claims taken under the Religious
9th Circuit Recognizes Property Rights
It’s the right of homeless folks in L.A.’s “Skid Row” area to not have their personal belongings seized if they leave them unattended for a while, but we will take what we can get.
In Lavan v. City of Los Angeles, No.11-56253 (Sep. 5, 2012), the Ninth Circuit held:
We conclude that the Fourth
IMLA Amicus Brief In SCOTUS Flood Takings Case: This Is Not An “Environmental” Case
Those of you who attended the recent CLE session at the ABA Annual Meeting about Arkansas Game & Fish Comm’n v. United States, No. 11-597 (cert. granted Apr. 2, 2012) may recall that Professor John Echeverria, the well-known environmental lawprof, said he was writing a brief in the case supporting the government’s arguments
Big Takings Day In The Texas Supreme Court
August 31, 2012 was a big day in the Texas Supreme Court for takings and condemnation lawyers. The court issued three major opinions in our favorite area of law. The first involves a question of public use, the second inverse condemnation, and the third valuation. Trifecta.
Instead of putting our gloss on the opinions, we’ll
Still Time To Join Us For The Lawyer Film Series At The Honolulu Museum Of Art
There’s still time for you to attend one (or more) of the screenings in our upcoming law film series. In conjunction with the Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Museum of Art, we’re screening five films about lawyers and the law:
- Crime After Crime (the award-winning documentary about two land use lawyers who assist
Airspace In Wisconsin Is Property – Overflights May Be A Taking
Here’s the latest inverse condemnation opinion from the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a case involving overflights from an adjacent airport. The case arose when property owners asserted that an extension of the runway by 1500 feet was a taking. The trial court dismissed the property owners’ inverse condemnation claims, but the court of appeal reversed
Cato’s Amicus Brief In California Raisin Takings Case
The Cato Institute, the National Federation of Independent Business, the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, and the Reason Foundation have filed an amicus brief in Horne v. United States, No. 12-123 (cert. petition filed July 25, 2012).
This is the case in which the petitioners argue that they are entitled to raise the Takings Clause
Does Hawaii Need An “Environmental Court?” – Doesn’t It Already Have One?
Check this out. A report from the Maui News that “Environmental court would be perfect fit here – judge.” Apparently, there is an effort to get the Judiciary or the Legislature to form another court with specialized jurisdiction, either formally like the Family Courts, or more likely on a less formalized basis like
New Complaint Challenging Kauai’s Limit On Visitor Units
An interesting new complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Hawaii, asserting claims for substantive due process, violation of the zoning enabling act, and the Kauai County Charter.
A owner of property that has been designated for resort development for 35 years is asserting that the adoption by the County’s voters of a charter amendment
Fed Govt’s Brief: “Temporary And Irregular Inundation Of Wetlands” (Read: Flooding) Is Not A Taking
Here’s the federal government’s merits brief in Arkansas Game & Fish Comm’n v. United States, No. 11-597 (cert. granted Apr. 2, 2012), the case in which the Federal Circuit held that flooding caused by the Corps of Engineers was only temporary, and did not result in a compensable taking merely because it eventually stopped