After the usual preliminaries — certification of a 253-member class, subclass certifications, discovery, and motions and cross-motions for summary judgment — the parties in a rails-to-trails takings case in the Court of Federal Claims mediated the dispute and ended up agreeing to $110 million plus interest as just comp for the property taken, and slightly
HAWSCT Oral Arguments In Seawall Hot Potato Case
A case that we’ve been following with some mild amusement has reached the Hawaii Supreme Court, where it was argued last week.
Our amusement stems from the fact that shoreline and beachfront property in Hawaii — especially when that property is in the fabled “Gold Coast” of Waikiki at the foot of Diamond Head —
Lawtalk: Thirty Meter Telescope, Putting The “Puaa” Back In Ahupuaa, And Oprah Elections
In a segment called “Are the Courts Crazy?,” (their title, not ours!), Kelii Akina and I chat about the recent decisions in the Thirty Meter Telescope case, the pig hunting as a traditional and customary native Hawaiian practice case, Hawaii’s new Environmental Court, and the challenge to the Hawaiians-only election
Latest On The Hawaiians-Only Oprah Election: Nai Aupuni’s Response To SCOTUS Contempt Motion
Nai Aupuni and the Akamai Foundation, the proponents and organizers of the Native Hawaiians-only “Oprah” election for delegates to a convention to organize a new Hawaiian government, have responded to the election objectors’ SCOTUS motion for contempt.
The Motion for Civil Contempt asked the Supreme Court to slap the State, the Governor, OHA and its
Arkansas: City Missed Appeal Of Just Comp Verdict By Not Paying The Court Reporter In Time
One for the appellate practitioners in the audience.
In City of Little Rock v. Hermitage Dev. Corp., No. CV-15-842 (Ark. Dec. 3, 2015), the Arkansas Supreme Court granted the property owners’ motion to dismiss an appeal filed by the city from a jury verdict awarding just compensation. The court agreed that the City
Fed Cir: No Property, No Taking
Here’s one from the Federal Circuit that doesn’t break new ground, but is founded on an arcane point of Florida law.
Rogers v. United States, No. 13-5098 (Dec. 28, 2015) is a rails-to-trails case, so the background is pretty standard: old railroad right-of-way, abandoned, followed by a NITU (Notice of Interim Trail Use), which
Counting Down To The ALI-CLE Eminent Domain Conference (Austin, Jan 28-30, 2016)
We’re exactly one month away from the 2016 Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation / Condemnation 101 Conference, which runs from January 28-30, 2016, in Austin, Texas.
Together with our friends and colleagues Joe Waldo, Jack Sperber, and Andrew Brigham, we think we’re put together a pretty good program that covers a lot of
Guest Post: HAWSCT Oral Arguments In Hoopili – Is The State Prohibited From Rezoning “Potential” Important Ag Land?
Barista’s note: last week, the Hawaii Supreme Court issued a 4-1 ruling in Friends of Makakilo v. D.R. Horton-Schuler Homes, LLC, No. SCAP-13-0002266, holding that the State Land Use Commission was not prohibited from adopting a boundary amendment (akin to a rezoning under Hawaii’s state-heavy land classification scheme) while the process for designating Important
More SCOTUS Action In Oprah/Everyone Wins Election
Here’s your daily dose of election law action (don’t worry, land users, we’ve got one of those in the hopper for today as well), the latest on what has been labeled the “Costco” election and the “Oprah” election. The former premised on the notion that a seat at the convention now has all the
HAWSCT: Land Use Comm’n Need Not Impose Moratorium Until After “Important Ag Lands” Process Is Complete
Here’s one in a land use case we’ve been following, both because it is a huge issue and because our partners Greg Kugle and Matt Evans represent the prevailing land owner.
All Hawaii land users need to read this, a 4-1 decision (Justice McKenna writing for the majority, with Justice Pollack in in dissent