Topics

42 U.S.C. § 1983 | Civil Rights

New Cert Petition: Invoking "Police Power" Alone Doesn't Avoid TakingsNew Cert Petition (Ours): Must A Due Process Claimant Exhaust State Remedies?

Administrative law

Georgia App: We're Mere Judges Who Must Defer To The PUC On Whether A Taking Is For Public UseRI: Federal Takings Claim Must Be Ripened By Exhausting State Admin Remedies By Appealing Variance Denial

Agriculture

The Doohickeys - Eminent Domain Country & WesternTexas: Liquid Oil And Gas Waste Belongs To Mineral Owner

Appellate law

Supreme Court Records And Briefs Now Freely Available (Thank You William & Mary Law Library)SCOTUS Gives Takings Ripeness Hints In First Amendment Opinion

Articles and publications

Supreme Court Records And Briefs Now Freely Available (Thank You William & Mary Law Library)Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Journal Vol. 14 Now Available

Attorneys Fees & Costs

South Dakota: Eminent Domain "is a highly specialized area of law that requires skill and experience..." Meriting Attorney's Fee Lodestar EnhancementHawaii Supreme Court: Beachfront Property Is Worthless

Blight

Savannah Bound: Don't Miss The 43rd ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference (Jan. 22-24, 2026)CA4: No Property Right To Conduct A Business, So No Taking For Police Response To Area Crime Surge

Brigham-Kanner Conference

Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Journal Vol. 14 Now Available2026 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize To Professor James Penner

Civil Forfeiture

CA10: Takings Clause Means Never Having To Administratively Ask To Get Your Property BackNew Article (Eric Claeys): "Takings and Choice of Law After Tyler v. Hennepin County"

Co-19

Harvard Law School's Moot Court Problem This Year? Takings.CA11: "[T]here is no COVID exception to the Takings Clause"

Contracts Clause

Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Journal Vol. 14 Now AvailableNew Cert Petition - Time To Resolve Contract Clause Circuit Split: Can You Raise A Claim Via Section 1983?

Court of Federal Claims | Federal Circuit

New Cert Petition: Obamacare Reinsurance Requirement Is A TakingCAFED: We Can't Tell Whether There's Been A Physical Taking, Because You Haven't Explained Well Enough What Property Interest You Have In Using Radio Frequencies

Damagings

Virginia Supreme Court Amicus: There's A Difference Between Constitutional "Damagings" And Severance (Residue) Damages In Takings Just Compensation

Development agreements

NC: If A Taking Is Determined To Lack A Public Use, Title Revests In Private Owner. If Construction Already Taken Place, Restoration Is An Available RemedyCA8: You Believed The County When It Promised In The Settlement Agreement To Not Take Your Land In The Future? Shame On You!

Dirt Law

William & Mary Law School's Real Estate Law SocietyNew Cert Petition: Do Indian Tribes Have Greater Sovereign Immunity Than Other Governments?

Due process

If A King Must Comply With "Every Form And Particular" In Eminent Domain, Then Today's Condemnors Also Surely MustNew Cert Petition (Ours): Must A Due Process Claimant Exhaust State Remedies?

Eminent Domain | Condemnation

If A King Must Comply With "Every Form And Particular" In Eminent Domain, Then Today's Condemnors Also Surely MustHappy 442d Birthday To Hugo Grotius, Who Coined The Term "Eminent Domain"

Environmental law

California Coastal Commission: No Fourth of July Fireworks Because Drones Better For The EnvironmentKilo-Class Subs? Yes, We Covered That. Dusting Off Our Admirals' SCOTUS Amicus Brief In Sonar EIS Case: The Real-World Consequences Of Environmental Law

Equal Protection

YIMBY v NIMBY In Montana Supreme Court: "housing reform statutes do not violate the right to equal protection solely because the law treats people not subject to private covenants differently."Who Cares Your "Evidence" Shows This Is Just An Old Part Of Chicago - All That Matters Is The City Says It's Historic

Events | Conferences

Why Is Rent So High? We Figured Out Why TodayTexas A & M Journal of Property Law Symposium Report: "Day Zero: How Cities Run Out of Water"

Excessive fines

New Article: Shelley Ross Saxer, "Forfeiture Takings, Police Power, and Necessity Destruction," 80 U. Miami L. Rev. 147 (2025)SCOTUS Merits Brief (Ours) In Just Comp/Excessive Fines Case

Floods and Flooding

CA4: "Voluntariness" Of Release Of Inverse Flooding Claim Should Be Determined By Jury(Unhappy) 193d Birthday To Barron v. Baltimore, SCOTUS's First Takings Case

Historic Preservation

Property Rights Are No Candle In The Wind: LA May Designate A Dilapidated House An Historic Monument, But Only If Owner Paid CompensationToday's Dirt Law Round-Up: Zoning, Public Use, and Penn Central History

Housing

NY App Div: Requiring Property Owners To Accept Section 8 Tenants Violates Fourth AmendmentYIMBY v NIMBY In Montana Supreme Court: "housing reform statutes do not violate the right to equal protection solely because the law treats people not subject to private covenants differently."

Intellectual Property

CA1: Government's Use Of Roberto Clemente Trademark Isn't A Categorical Physical Invasion TakingThursday Round Up: Pretextual Takings, Squatting, Unconstitutional Conditions

Inverse condemnation

CA4: "Voluntariness" Of Release Of Inverse Flooding Claim Should Be Determined By JuryNC: Raise Your Inverse Claim In The Eminent Domain Case...Or Else

Judicial Takings

CA10 (2-1) Avoids Takings Claim Because Complaint Doesn't Plausibly Allege Owners Had Right To Exclude Before New Mexico Supreme Court Changed The LawCA9: District Court's Contempt Order Isn't A Judicial Taking

Just Compensation | Appraisal

Eminent Domain: Owner "Lost its case and lost all of its money"New Article: Bob Grace, "Assessing Change in Market Value of Rural Real Property Post-Wildfire in the Great Plains" (Appraisal Journal)

Land use law

California Supreme Court Reins In The Most Unaccountable Agency In The Nation, The California Coastal CommissionWilliam & Mary Law School's Real Estate Law Society

Municipal & Local Govt law

Today Is Hawaii's Secular Good Friday State Holiday - What's Up With That?Join Us At The Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute (Denver) To Talk Sheetz, And Housing

Necessity

Vermont And The Bare Necessities: Taking Was Unnecessary Because Town Didn't Bother To Meet Statutory RequirementsCAFED: Like We Said Before, "Inevitably Recurring" Flooding Is A Taking

Nollan/Dolan | Exactions

New Cert Petition (Ours): Do Nollan/Dolan Limitations Apply Where Gov't Exacts Money, Not Land?New Article (Fennell & Mulvaney): "The Exactions Illusion: Sheetz’s Missing Dissent," 135 Yale L.J. 1143 (2026)

Penn Central

Ohio: Temporarily Shutting Down Injection Wells After Earthquakes Is Not A Penn Central TakingCA6: Denial Of Rezoning Is Not A Penn Central Taking

Physical Invasion | Yee

CA1: Government's Use Of Roberto Clemente Trademark Isn't A Categorical Physical Invasion TakingCAFED: Like We Said Before, "Inevitably Recurring" Flooding Is A Taking

Pipelines

Death By A Thousand Days: The Courts "have enabled interest groups to transform the bench into a tool to stymie any new development. It is long past time to correct our mistake."CA8: Local Ordinances Regulating Pipelines Are Preempted By State And Federal Pipeline Law

Police Power

New Cert Petition: Invoking "Police Power" Alone Doesn't Avoid TakingsSymposium: "Euclid Turns 100: Rethinking an Antiquated Case and Reimagining Euclidean Zoning for the Century Ahead"

Precondemnation entry

Property Reserve Revisited: Project? We Don't Need A Project To Do Precondemnation Entries

Property rights

If A King Must Comply With "Every Form And Particular" In Eminent Domain, Then Today's Condemnors Also Surely MustCalifornia Supreme Court Reins In The Most Unaccountable Agency In The Nation, The California Coastal Commission

Property tax

Income As Property, And Washington's New "Millionaire Tax""The Fifth Amendment does not require an auction; it requires payment of just compensation" - Owner's Reply In SCOTUS Just Comp/Excessive Fines Case

Public Use | Kelo

Georgia App: We're Mere Judges Who Must Defer To The PUC On Whether A Taking Is For Public UseVermont And The Bare Necessities: Taking Was Unnecessary Because Town Didn't Bother To Meet Statutory Requirements

Rail

Georgia App: We're Mere Judges Who Must Defer To The PUC On Whether A Taking Is For Public UseCal App: Skunk Train Is A Common Carrier With Power Of Eminent Domain

Rails-to-Trails

CA10 On Causby, Open Range, And Corner Crossings: Owners Have A Right To Exclude, But Not If Doing So Fully Encloses Public LandsCFC: Attorneys Fee Shifting "incentivizes the government to negotiate fairly, minimize delays, and avoid frivolous takings"

Redevelopment

CA6 Affirms Detroit Land Bank Taking: New Facts Defeat Res JudicataHere's The Agenda For The 2025 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference (Oct. 23-24, 2025)

Regulatory takings

New Complaint: NY's Fracking Ban Is A Penn Coal v. Mahon TakingNew Cert Petition: Invoking "Police Power" Alone Doesn't Avoid Takings

Relocation | URA

There's Still Time To Join Us In Savannah (Jan. 21 - 24, 2026) For ALI-CLE's 43d Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation ConferenceThe Doohickeys - Eminent Domain Country & Western

Rent Control

NY App Div: Requiring Property Owners To Accept Section 8 Tenants Violates Fourth AmendmentCA9: Pharma Has No Expectation Of Nondisclosure, So State Disclosing Trade Secrets Is Not A Penn Central Taking

Ripeness | Knick

SCOTUS Gives Takings Ripeness Hints In First Amendment OpinionNew Cert Petition: Invoking "Police Power" Alone Doesn't Avoid Takings

RLUIPA | religious land use

Today Is Hawaii's Secular Good Friday State Holiday - What's Up With That?CA6: RLUIPA Claim Subject To Williamson County Final Decision Ripeness Because It's A "Land Use" Issue

Schadenfreude

How's That Again?Hawaii Court Of Appeals: Elephants Are Not "Persons"

Search and Seizure | 4A

NY App Div: Requiring Property Owners To Accept Section 8 Tenants Violates Fourth AmendmentNew 4A Property Rights Cert Petition: Govt GPSing Your Boat Is Warrantless Search

Shoreline | CZMA

California Supreme Court Reins In The Most Unaccountable Agency In The Nation, The California Coastal CommissionCalifornia Coastal Commission: No Fourth of July Fireworks Because Drones Better For The Environment

Sovereign Immunity | 11th Amendment

New Cert Petition (Ours): Is A State Immune From Takings Claims (Even In Its Own Courts)?Harvard Law School's Moot Court Problem This Year? Takings.

State Constitutions

Virginia Supreme Court Amicus: There's A Difference Between Constitutional "Damagings" And Severance (Residue) Damages In Takings Just CompensationPost-Kelo Amendments To Louisiana Constitution Prohibit Taking To Lease To Private Company For Its Own Use (Even If The Fifth Amendment Might Allow It)

Tyler takings

Lighter Moments In Yesterday's SCOTUS Takings ArgumentsTranscript And Audio From Today's SCOTUS Takings And Excessive Fine Arguments (Pung v. Isabella County)

UIPA - Public Records Law

Tex App: A Fight Over Who Owns A Historic Letter Isn't A Takings ProblemNo FOMO: There's Still Room For You To Join Us In New Orleans Feb 1-3, 2024 For The 41st ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference

Uncategorized

What Do You Mean This Isn't A Word, Spell Check?Sunny (And Not So Sunny) Days At The 2026 Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute

Vacation rentals

Too Soon: Challenge To Vermont City's Short-Term Rental Limitations Must Wait Until City Comes After YouTex App: Like We Said Before, Property Owners Are Likely To Succeed In Challenge To Short-Term Rental Ban

Vested rights

Property Rights Are No Candle In The Wind: LA May Designate A Dilapidated House An Historic Monument, But Only If Owner Paid CompensationUno Reverse: Iowa Says That Until Government Regulates, Your Expectations To Use Your Property Can Never "Crystallize"

Voting rights | election law

Euclid's "Neighborhood Character" Vibe, Exemplified In Land Use Fight In The Heart Of The Napa ValleyOne City, Many Votes: Cal App OK's Municipal Sleight-of-Law To Permit City To Impose Fees... On Itself (And Others)

Water rights | Public trust

Texas A & M Journal of Property Law Symposium Report: "Day Zero: How Cities Run Out of Water"TAMU Law's Journal Of Property Law 2026 Symposium: "Day Zero: How Cities Run Out of Water" (Feb 6, 2026)

Wildfires | Flooding

New Article: Bob Grace, "Assessing Change in Market Value of Rural Real Property Post-Wildfire in the Great Plains" (Appraisal Journal)2025 Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute, Denver (March 5-7, Denver U. Law School)

Zoning & Planning

Uno Reverse: Iowa Says That Until Government Regulates, Your Expectations To Use Your Property Can Never "Crystallize"Too Soon: Challenge To Vermont City's Short-Term Rental Limitations Must Wait Until City Comes After You