“Petitioner owns the fee title to property known as the Ballona Lagoon, a narrow body of water connected to Marina del Rey, a manmade harbor located in a part of the city of Los Angeles called Venice. Venice is located on the Pacific Ocean between the Los Angeles International Airport and the city
July 2016
Must Read: Michael Berger On “Property, Democracy, & The Constitution”
Last year, we posted about the Brigham-Kanner Conference, the annual meeting at William and Mary Law School where we talk all things property rights and award the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize. (By the way, this year’s conference will be held in The Hague, The Netherlands in October. But more on that soon, in…
W Virginia: Govt, Not Judge, Gets To Determine Quick-Take Deposit
Here’s one we’ve been meaning to post up for a while. Not because it isn’t an important decision, but because other things intervened.
In State of West Virginia ex rel. West Virginia Dep’t of Transportation v. Burnside, No. 15-1112 (June 13, 2016), the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia held that under the statutory…
Hawaii Supreme Court Amicus Brief: In Eminent Domain, Parcels Need Not Abut In Order To Be Considered Part Of A Larger Tract
Here’s the latest in that case we told you about a couple of months ago, a published ruling in an eminent domain case from the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals. We wrote that in our view, the court got it really wrong on one of the three issues in the case, whether two parcels which…
Maine Supreme Court Considers Public Prescriptive Easements For Beach Access
Apparently (if the level of media coverage is any measure), the question of public access to beaches is a big thing in Maine:
- After Harpswell court case, public use surges on beaches
- Opponent of Harpswell beach access puts property up for sale
- Maine’s high court hears arguments in beach access case in Harpswell
- Maine high
…
Indiana App: No Gov’t Immunity For Inverse Condemnation
Another flooding case, this time from the Indiana Court of Appeals.
In Birge v. Town of Linden, No. 54A01-1509-PL-1495 (July 25, 2016), the court considered a pure legal question (the issue was up on appeal after the trial court dismissed for failure to state a claim): does governmental immunity under the state tort claims…
Taps For A Good Man, K. Mark Takai
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Yesterday came the news I’ve been dreading, but was hoping might never arrive. Congressman K. Mark Takai lost his final fight, a battle with pancreatic cancer.
I am devastated. He was not only a client, but one of the rare people in public life who actually showed political courage to do the right…
California Supreme Court Rewrites Eminent Domain Entry Statutes To Give Government A Free Pass
Today, in a case we’ve been following (because we filed a brief in support of the property owner), the California Supreme Court in a unanimous opinion essentially rewrote California’s precondemnation entry statute to give the government a pass.
The court assumed that entries which exceed the relatively minor entries contemplated by its prior…
Hawaii Supreme Court: Some Office Of Election Ballot Practices Are “Rules,” Some Maybe Not
Like many high-profile cases, the legal challenge to the actions of the State Office of Elections tracks two threads. On one hand, the Office’s travails are well known and frequently reported. The public understands only too well the difficulties the Office encountered when it failed to print enough ballots, and had other problems in recent…
Pirate Of The Carribean: Govt Claiming Ownership And Clouding Title Is A Physical Taking
We’re not going to go into much detail about the Court of Federal Claims’ ruling in Katzin v. United States, No. 12-384L (July 15, 2016): (1) it’s long (44 single-spaced pages), (2) it’s a post-trial ruling and not from an appellate court, and (3) we’re busy today.
But we still recommend you read it…


