Check this out. In Willowbrook Apts, LLC v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, No. 1:20-cv-01818 (July 6, 2020), the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland denied the plaintiff/property owner’s motion for a temporary restraining order, in a case challenging the COVID orders that pretty dramatically alter the landlord/tenant relationship in Maryland:
Co-19
Federal Court Denies TRO: Hawaii Gov’s Coronavirus Travel Quarantine Doesn’t Stop Anyone From Coming To Hawaii
As expected, a quick decision and opinion from the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, after yesterday’s hearing on the plaintiff’s request for extraordinary preliminary relief (a TRO and PI) in the case challenging the Hawaii Governor’s imposition of a 14-day self-quarantine on all travelers inbound to Hawaii (and other emergency orders, although…
Zigging And Zagging: Federal Court Hearing On Challenge To Hawaii Gov’s COVID Orders Is Back On-Line
Last we checked in, the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii has granted the Hawaii Attorney General’s request to hold an in-person hearing on the plaintiffs’ motions for preliminary relief in the case challenging Governor Ige’s COVID-19 related orders (including travel quarantine). Unfortunately, that meant that those of us not able or…
We Join Clint Schumacher For The 50th Episode Of The Eminent Domain Podcast To Talk COVID Takings
We joined friend and colleague Clint Schumacher for the milestone 50th episode of his essential Eminent Domain Podcast.
If you are not already a subscriber and regular listener, you should be. Clint features interesting guests (present company excepted) and listening in is a good way to keep our community together, especially when many of…
July 22, 2020: “Emergency and Police Power: Property Claims in Times of Crisis” (ABA Webinar)
Please plan on joining us on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, at 1pm ET (10am PT) for a long-form program on “Emergency and Police Power: Property Claims in Times of Crisis.”
Our speakers are Professors Craig Konnoth (Colorado) and John Nolon (Pace), and one of the lawyers on the forefront of the nationwide legal…
SDNY: No Taking For NY’s Eviction Moratorium (It’s Temporary, And You Invited Them In Landlords)
As we noted here, property owners sued the New York governor asserting that one of his emergency measures to respond to the coronavirus crisis (a suspension of eviction proceedings) is a taking.
Yesterday, the District Court denied the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, and entered summary judgment in favor of the governor. Order Denying …
Cert Denied In Police Power Takings Case (Lech v. Greenwood Village)
The Supreme Court today declined to review a Tenth Circuit decision that held a municipality could not be liable for a taking when its police officers pretty much destroyed a house in the course of dislodging a suspect who had holed up there.
Along with our colleague Bill DeVinney, we filed an amicus brief in…
New Article: “The Coronavirus Pandemic Shutdown and Distributive Justice: Why Courts Should Refocus the Fifth Amendment Takings Analysis”
Timothy Harris (Seattle U.) has posted his forthcoming article (Loyola L.A. L. Rev.) about takings and coronavirus shut downs. Well worth a read, and adds to the growing list of scholarly inquiry into the question, which includes Prof. Shai Stern’s “Pandemic Takings: Compensating for Public Health Emergency Regulation,” and our own “Evaluating …
Hawaii AG: For The Hearing At Which I Will Argue That Indoor In-Person Gatherings Are Dangerous, Let’s Gather Indoors In-Person!
Here’s the latest in the remaining federal court challenge to Hawaii Governor David Ige’s coronavirus-related series of orders which, among other things, suspended a wide range of statutes, ordered activities deemed “nonessential” to stop or be limited, imposed a two-week self-quarantine on interisland, mainland, and international travelers, effectively shut down one of the main engines…
Video: “Lockdown, Testing and Tracking: Are They Really Legal?” (A Look At Hawaii’s COVID Response)
Here’s the recording of our webinar from earlier this week, in which we and fellow Honolulu lawyer Jeff Portnoy did our best to address some of the many questions that have arisen during the coronavirus shut-down.
Jeffrey Portnoy and Robert Thomas talked about what we can expect as the state and counties slowly lift…

