March 2026

In Plaquemines Port Harbor & Terminal District v. Nguyen, No 2025-C-00827 (Mar. 6, 2026), the Louisiana Supreme Court invalidated a quick take by the Port of a vacant 29-acre parcel, because the property was to be leased to “a private company for its exclusive development and use.” Slip op. at 1. [Disclosure: our shop filed an amicus brief, so we had a dog in the hunt.]…
Continue Reading Post-Kelo Amendments To Louisiana Constitution Prohibit Taking To Lease To Private Company For Its Own Use (Even If The Fifth Amendment Might Allow It)

For the past couple of days, we’ve been in Denver, attending the 2026 Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute at Denver Law School. The program is pretty wide-ranging. Everything from very land-usey topics like state-local delegation, zoning, and takings, and broader subjects like housing policy, western history lessons, and planning strategies. In attendance: private practice lawyers, government lawyers, elected officials, public interest lawyers, legal scholars, planners, and zoning officials. …
Continue Reading Sunny (And Not So Sunny) Days At The 2026 Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute

A new must-read from lawprofs Lee Anne Fennell (Chicago) and Timothy Mulvaney (Tex. A&M) in the Yale Law Journal, “The Exactions Illusion: Sheetz’s Missing Dissent,” 135 Yale L.J. 1143 (2026). Now don’t get us wrong: we’re no offering this as a “must-read” because we agree with or endorse the article’s content and premise, but because we think the content and premise are subject to challenge.
Continue Reading New Article (Fennell & Mulvaney): “The Exactions Illusion: Sheetz’s Missing Dissent,” 135 Yale L.J. 1143 (2026)

Today’s reports that the U.S. Navy has destroyed one (or more) of Iran’s Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines got us thinking back to the time we and our colleagues filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving the conflict between environmental law (in that case the National Environmental Policy Act, the law requiring study and disclosure of possible environmental impacts from certain actions), on one hand, and national defense on the other. …
Continue Reading Kilo-Class Subs? Yes, We Covered That. Dusting Off Our Admirals’ SCOTUS Amicus Brief In Sonar EIS Case: The Real-World Consequences Of Environmental Law

Today’s post is by our friend and Pacific Legal Foundation colleague Steve Davis, reporting on his recent attendance at the recent Texas A & M Journal of Property Law symposium, “Property Law and ‘Aggie Spirit.'”…
Continue Reading Texas A & M Journal of Property Law Symposium Report: “Day Zero: How Cities Run Out of Water”

We generally don’t feature “unpublished” opinions. Most courts don’t treat them as binding anyone but the parties in the case, and some even consider them un-citeable. We think this is wrong, and that everything an appellate court does should be considered precedent — otherwise, what the heck is the court doing? — but we don’t make the rules.
Continue Reading Unpublished Monday: Anarchy Takings, Highest And Best Use, Inverse Statute Of Limitations