Is there a more appropriate place at which to study property rights and dirt law than William and Mary Law School? After all, it is a stone’s throw from Jamestown, the place where there’s a good argument the concept of property law and property rights first took hold in the New World. As
New Cert Petition (Ours): Can Condemnor Delay Actually Paying Compensation Indefinitely?
Last week, along with my colleagues Deborah La Fetra and Kady Valois, we filed this cert petition in a case we’ve been following (even before we joined as counsel).
The petition seeks review of the Fifth Circuit’s opinion holding that there’s nothing a federal court can do if a local government does not pay
John Quincy Adams Loses A Takings Case
No, not that JQA. (Sorry for the clickbaitey headline.) But who could resist the Fifth Circuit’s per curiam opinion in John Quincy Adams v. Pearl River Valley Water Supply District, No. 21-60749 (July 20, 2022) which held that Mr. Adams, who owned property near a reservoir, could not sue state officials in federal court
CA6: State Officials Enjoy 11th Amendment Immunity From Just Compensation Claims In Federal Court
In Skatemore, Inc. v. Whitmer, No. 21-2985 (July 19, 2022), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that neither the Just Compensation Clause, nor the Fourteenth Amendment abrogated the states’ immunity from being sued in federal court for compensation for takings.
This is another one of those cases where — due
Here’s The Full Speaker And Topic List For The Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference (Sep 29-30, 2022)
By now, you know that the 19th Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference is set for September 29-30, 2022, at the William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia (register here – space is limited – fee ranges from free to $195 – a bargain!). And you know that our colleague Jim Burling is this
You Can Sue Utah For Compensation In State Court, So No Injunction In Federal Court
No smoking in Hatu
A short one from the U.S. District Court in Utah, but worth reading because it highlights one of those unresolved issues: the remedy for a “takings” claim.
Now, you’ve heard the Supreme Court describe just compensation as the “default” remedy for regulatory takings and inverse claims. But it isn’t the only
Alabama: Government Can’t Keep The Change After A Tax Sale
A long-ish opinion from the Alabama Supreme Court in Douglas v. Roper, No. 1200503 (June 24, 2022). But a short post because the good stuff is relatively brief.
Bottom line: property owners have a vested interest in excess money generated from a tax sale of their property, and the Alabama legislature cannot prohibit the
CA6: Dammed If You Do – Takings Claim Is Ripe When Govt Decides To Physically Invade And You Don’t Need To Wait ‘Til It Actually Invades
We’ve been meaning to post the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s opinion in Barber v. Charter Twp of Springfield, No. 20-2298 (Apr. 11, 2022) for a while because it emphasizes an important point about “final decision” ripeness, and the sometimes ridiculous arguments made to support an argument that a takings claim
The Keepings Clause: CA5 (Again) Throws Up Its Hands When Local Gov Refuses To Pay Back Money It Owes
Its deja vu all over again: like it did just a short while back, in Lafave v. City of New Orleans, No. 21-30358 (June 1, 2022), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit once again has rejected a takings claims “based on the city’s failure to honor a judgment of the
CA7: Like Other Circuits, We’re Going To Dodge The Judicial Takings Question
Here’s one we’ve been following since its inception, even before we joined the law firm that represents the property owner. (And because our Pacific Legal Foundation colleagues are repping the plaintiffs in this one, we won’t be commenting in-depth.)
You may remember that in Gunderson v. Indiana, 90 N.E.3d 171 (Ind. 2018)