42 U.S.C. § 1983 | Civil Rights

The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, in a unanimous panel opinion authored by Judge Foley, held that a “zoning verification” by the Director of the City and County’s Department of Planning and Permitting is not a “decision of the Director” which a property owner must administratively appeal to the Honolulu Zoning Board of Appeals. Hoku

Here’s the amici brief of the Cato Institute, the NFIB, the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, and the Reason Foundation in support of the petitioner/property owner in Horne v. United States Dep’t of Agriculture, No. 12-122 (cert. granted. Nov. 20, 2012).

That’s the case in which the Supreme Court is considering whether a property owner

How, as an appellant, do you know you are in trouble? When an opinion starts like this, that’s how:

Although a residential subdivision proposed for construction in a bucolic Rhode Island town never saw the light of day, its ghost continues to haunt the parties. But apparitions rarely have substance, and this one is no

LastbattlebookYou know how we’re always saying that the provisions in the Takings Clause are “self-executing,” that even in the absence of a waiver of sovereign immunity, the Tucker Act, and section 1983, property owners would still be able to maintain a claim for compensation? Well here’s an article that explains that how that rule was

Confirming yet again that the shopping mall is the focus of California culture, the California Supreme Court in Ralphs Grocery Co. v. United Food and Commerical Workers Union Local 8, No. S185544 (Dec. 27, 2012), held that a privately-owned walkway fronting a warehouse-type grocery store is a venue for the airing of grievances

That was quick. As we predicted (and urged), the Hawaii Supreme Court today without comment rejected the County of Maui’s application for a writ of certiorari, which asked the court to review the Intermediate Court of Appeals decision in in Leone v. County of Maui, No 29692 (June 22, 2012) (Supreme Court order

We sure wish we could have attended the Cato Institute’s recent Constitution Day program in Washington, D.C., but here’s the next best thing, a video of the presentations on Property Rights, with a review of the recent Sackett and PPL Montana decisions by the Supreme Court, and an update about the state of property rights.

Florida land use and environmental law attorney Jake Cremer has posted the Brief in Opposition in Koontz v. St. Johs River Water Management Dist., No. 11-1447 (cert. petition filed May 30, 2012), the case asking whether the Nollan/Dolan nexus and proportionality tests  apply to a land-use exaction that takes the form