March 2023

Today’s post is by our Pacific Legal Foundation colleague Kady Valois, writing about a recent Federal Circuit Rails-to-Trails takings case, Behrens v. United States, No. 22-1277 (Feb. 13, 2023).

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How The West Was Won: Easements!

by Kady Valois

There’s a saying that the west was won by pioneers, settlers, and adventurers.

And while that may be somewhat accurate, what’s clearer still is that the west — at least the west we know today — was built and developed because of railroads. We owe a lot to railroads because this nation was built by the coal engines that carried steel, food, and people to areas never previously explored by Americans. Many of these railroads were built on easements or rights-of-way on private property, subject to the fee owner’s reversionary interest: should the easement ever not be used for railway purposes, the property is supposed to revert…

Continue Reading Guest Post – Kady Valois, “How The West Was Won: Easements!”

Remember that case from a couple of years back, where the Supreme Court, by a tantalizingly close vote, declined to grant a cert petition seeking review of an Illinois decision that preventing future blight was a sufficiently public use to support a redevelopment taking? 

A law student at Catholic U. law school recently made a presentation on the case and the issues as part of the Student Scholars Series, and the law school has kindly made the video available. More here.

We think it is fantastic both that law students are examining these issues, and that the law school encourages and promotes their work. It gives us comfort for the future of the profession, and the Dirt Law Bar.

Well done, Mr. Tocchio!Continue Reading Catholic U Law School Student Scholar: “Eychaner v. City of Chicago: Repercussions after The Supreme Court refuses to take up a Takings Clause Reconsideration”