Check this out: according to this article (“This SC man won a Supreme Court case. He wants to know why he can’t talk about it“), David Lucas, the lawyer-property owner behind the big reg takings case Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U.S. 1003 (1993), was apparently not invited to speak at the (ongoing) event at the University of South Carolina law school marking the 25th anniversary of the decision. The local paper reports:
The University of South Carolina law school is holding a three-day event to mark the 25th anniversary of a S.C. man’s legal victory in the U.S. Supreme Court. But the victor in that case, Davis Lucas, isn’t invited, and he’s upset.
. . . .
Lucas, who sued for the right to build on two lots on the Isle of Palms, is upset neither he nor his attorneys were invited to participate. He said he only found out the forum was being held because a friend’s son attends USC’s law school.
Lucas, who lives in Bishopville, worries his argument in support of property rights won’t be represented. Meanwhile, he expects state regulators to argue the court ruling limits their ability to protect the coast. Lucas also is upset that former S.C. Chief Justice Jean Toal, who joined a majority on the state Supreme Court in ruling against him before he won his federal appeal, was invited.
We’re going to be talking about the Lucas case and its impact in a couple of months, right there in South Carolina, at the 35th Annual ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conference in Charleston. Professor Lynda Butler (William and Mary Law), and Jonathan Wood (Washington, DC) will present the session “Lucas 25 Years Later: Property Rights in the Age of Global Warming.”
We invite Mr. Lucas to come join us in Charleston, just a short hop away from the lots he formerly owned. Heck, we may even pay a visit out to nearby Isle of Palms.