Under a Massachusetts statute, local redevelopment agencies have the power to respond to “decadent, substandard, and blighted open areas” either by creating an urban renewal project (redeveloping an area pursuant to a “detailed” and “comprehensive” plan; the statute expressly includes the power of eminent domain for urban renewal projects), or by a “demonstration” development (a
Like a lot of jurisdictions, Kentucky allows (or requires upon demand) the jury to view property being taken by eminent domain. In Kentucky, it’s a matter of statute, which requires the court to allow a jury view upon the demand of any party, unless “unusual or extreme circumstances” are present.
Here are the amici briefs supporting the property owner’s cert petition in a case we’ve been following for a long time, Eychaner v. City of Chicago, No. 20-1214.
This is the one in which the Illinois courts concluded that Chicago’s desire to prevent “future blight” is enough of a public use to support
Come at me!
(Bolick, J., dissenting)
We have a Wexis alert for “Kelo,” because that’s one of the ways we keep up on the latest developments in this area. That alert doesn’t ping all that often, so we were all excited when yesterday, we received an alert notifying us of the Arizona Supreme
If you’re wondering what to do if, during the course of an eminent domain lawsuit or project, a condemnor (or anyone else with the power of eminent domain) invades, occupies, or affects more property than it acknowledges, check out the Indiana Court of Appeals’ opinion in Lake County v. House, No. 20A-PL-1675 (Apr. 14
Takings! Armstrong! Emergencies! Mahon! Jacobson!
Add lawprof Shelley Ross Saxer’s latest article (forthcoming in the University of Hawaii Law Review), “Necessity Exceptions to Takings” to your reading list.
Rather than summarize it for you, we’ll just post the abstract:
The doctrine of necessity has strong roots in
Toby Prince Brigham
November 24, 1934 – March 19, 2021
We haven’t posted in a few days, because we’ve been busy with a sad but important task – traveling to Miami to pay our respects to a true giant in the field of property rights and eminent domain, Toby Prince Brigham.
After a long and
Here’s the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s 4-3 opinion in a case we’ve been following, Christus Lutheran Church of Appleton v. Wis. Dep’t of Trans., No. 2018AP 1114 (Apr. 1, 2021). Even though it was close, after oral arguments, we were hoping for a more positive result.
This is the case in which the
Check out the North Dakota Supreme Court’s opinion in Cass County Joint Water Resource District v. Aaland, No. 20200171 (Mar. 24, 2021). It’s a quick read, and worth your time.
North Dakota has one of those “precondemnation entry” statutes allowing a (potential) condemnor to enter private property to check it out to see if
Pop quiz: in eminent domain valuation proceedings, may an owner who is not qualified as an expert witness testify about the value of her or his own property?
If you said “yes,” most courts would agree with you, either as percipient witness testimony or as lay expert testimony. As would the U.S. Court of