42 U.S.C. § 1983 | Civil Rights

The property owners have filed their merits brief in the beachfront takings case, Stop the Beachfront Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep’t of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11 (cert. granted. June 15, 2009). The case presents three questions:

TheFlorida Supreme Court invoked “nonexistent rules of state substantivelaw” to reverse 100 years of uniform holdings that littoral

Here’s the latest in the Maui affordable housing case now being litigated in the U.S. District Court, Kamaole Pointe Development LP v. County of Maui, No. 07-00447 DAE (D. Haw.). The case is a challenge to the County of Maui’s “workforce housing”ordinance, enacted in in 2006, which imposes a40% to 50% affordable requirement on

In Cloverleaf Realty of New York, Inc. v. Town of Wawayanda, No. 07-3405-cv (July 15, 2009), the Second Circuit held that a dismissal by a state court on statute of limitations ground does not preclude the plaintiff from bringing the same claim in a federal court which has a longer statute of limitations.

Needing

In a notable case worth following, the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals is considering a new appeal involving whether a per se regulatory takings claim is ripe under Williamson County Regional Planning Comm’n v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City, 473 U.S. 172 (1985), and whether in order to ripen a takings claim, a property

The U.S. Supreme Court last week agreed to review the Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Walton County v. Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc.,998 So.2d 1102 (Fla. Sep. 29, 2008), which heldthat a state statute prohibiting “beach renourishment” without apermit did not effect a taking of littoral (beachfront) property, eventhough it altered the long-standing rights

Goodtobeking You may remember Mel Brooks’ History of the World: Part I, where Brooks, as King Louis XIV, turns to the camera and exclaims “it’s good to be the King!” each time he takes advantage of one of his subjects.

Well, it turns out that it really is good.

In Sable v. Myers

As we noted in this post, the recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decision in Severance v. Patterson, No. 07-20409 (Apr. 23, 2009) is garnering a lot of commentary for the dissenting judge’s opening ad hominem and the majority’s terse response.  Earlier, we summarized the substantive issues in the case,

Some interesting reports filtering across my screen today:

A collection of interesting reports on land use and zoning topics:

  • Mission residents reject American Apparel (San Francisco Chronicle) – “Congratulations to the residents of Valencia Street. After a rowdy and sometimes misleading campaign, they managed to stop American Apparel – a socially conscious, popular, American-run clothing store – from moving into one of the