Available now.
Just published: Rethinking the Law of Private Property, edited by lawprof Jan Laitos, with chapters by some of Dirt Law’s most notable luminaries. Here’s the abstract:
In Rethinking the Law of Private Property, eminent legal scholars consider how private property rights might be transformed and realigned to better cope with modern challenges. They rethink current paradigms around private property and natural resource ownership in light of police power regulations, health rules and expanded land-use regulations.
Vicki Been, Daniel Cole, Robin Craig, Richard Epstein, Jan Laitos, Roger Pilon, J.B. Ruhl, James Salzman and Ilya Somin are among America’s leading scholars on private property rights. Their chapters consider three critical issues facing private property owners in the 21st century. (1) To what extent may constitutional protections of private property resist police power limits restricting property uses? (2) Do developers of property for housing have the ability to provide affordable housing and rental properties when the government wishes to advance social policies that may impede that development? (3) Can notions of private property adapt to accommodate demands for more efficient allocation of scarce but much needed natural resources, such as water and ecosystem services?
Students and academics in property law and government law will greatly benefit from this vital resource. Its discerning insights will also interest legal practitioners and teachers of property law, land use planning, environmental law, constitutional law, water law and natural resources law.
We had a chance to preview the book, and the publisher was kind enough to include this back-cover blurb:
‘The authors—among the field’s luminaries—challenge us to think about historical and traditional property rights in a new way. Not by advocating for a return to a time past, but rather by recognizing first principles and property’s Lockean underpinnings—all without neglecting modern contexts. This volume will earn a place on every scholar’s and practitioner’s bookshelf.
Available here.
Rethinking the Law of Private Property (J. Laitos, ed. 2025)