In some states, Hawaii included, the question of whether a taking is “for public use” is entitled to full resolution before addressing the question of just compensation. See, e.g., Haw. Rev. Stat. § 101-34 (public use challenges are entitled to immediate trial, and as-of-right interlocutory appeal). This makes sense since questions of value
You Stay Classy, California Redevelopment Agencies
It appears it is not enough for the lobbying arms of California cites and redevelopment agencies to sue the state claiming the state is grabbing “their” money, now at least one California city is in the business of producing You Tube videos complaining of the taking.
Putting aside for the moment whether the municipal
Can’t Touch This: Cal Redevelopment Agencies Sue State
Yesterday, the California Redevelopment Association, the League of California Cities and two Bay Area municipalities filed an original jurisdiction petition for writ of mandate in the California Supreme Court asserting that the California Legislature’s recent bills to eliminate redevelopment agencies, or allow them to continue to exist if they pay tribute to the state, violate
International Monday
On this Monday we bring you these stories, all with an international flavor:
- Transit-oriented development, Agra style: from the Times of India comes “For 12 yrs, marooned around Taj, villagers leading a no-vehicle life.” In 1998, “the Supreme Court [of India] banned fuel-driven vehicles within 500 metres of the [Taj Mahal] to avoid
Cert Petition: After Kelo, When Is Eminent Domain Pretextual?
On July 14, 2011, we filed this cert petition (also posted below), which asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Hawaii Supreme Court’s decision in County of Hawaii v. C&J Coupe Family Ltd. P’ship, 242 P.3d 1136 (Haw. 2010). In that case, the Hawaii court upheld the taking of land on the Big
Eighth Circuit Sees The Sign – Eminent Domain Abuse Protest Mural Gets First Amendment OK
Is this a “sign?” The city of St. Louis thought so. The city’s building inspection department issued a citation to the folks who commissioned the painting on a residential duplex, telling them they needed a permit. So they asked the city for one.
Denied. The zoning code does not allow for such signs. It’s too
Portland Lawyer Fighting To Keep His Property Goes “Up”
From Oregon Live comes the report that a Portland attorney who was fighting to keep his office building (a converted Victorian), from being taken, has prevailed.
After a years-long fight in which Randal Acker, a commercial litigation lawyer, vowed to “do eminent domain law for the next two years to save the house” if necessary
Va Supreme Court Thinks Outside The Bun: Use And Intent Keys To Determination Of “Fixture,” Not Moveability
That’s not the most elegant of headlines, but to those of you interested in the valuation of equipment and machinery in eminent domain cases, you’ll like this post.
[Update: more from our Michigal Owner’s Counsel colleague Alan Ackerman at the National Eminent Domain Blog, and from the Rocky Mountain Appellate Blog.]
Thanks
Illinois Ct App: Condemnor Can Abandon Eminent Domain Action, Even After Settling Case
If you hear that property owners should not worry too much when their homes, land, or businesses are targeted for eminent domain because the government has their best interest in mind and will treat them fairly, pay attention to this case.
Most understand government’s power to take property by eminent domain. (Note: we don’t like
Winner: Best Title For Law Review Article About Kelo (I Think)
“Kelo, Parents and the Spatialization of Color (Blindness) in the Berman–Brown Metropolitan Heterotopia” by Denver lawprof Tom Romero II.
This article utilizes interdisciplinary methodology and resources to describe the manner by which legally enforced color lines on a local scale became paradoxically proscribed, yet essential to what I call the multi-racial