Here’s the cert petition filed last week which asks the Supreme Court to review the Federal Circuit’s unpublished opinion in Mehaffy v. United States (Dec. 10, 2012). In that case, the court affirmed the Court of Federal Claims’ grant of summary judgment to the government, holding that Mehaffy failed the Penn Central test solely because
Environmental law
One Free Flood: CFC Declines To Reconsider Dismissal Of Takings Case After Arkansas Game
Congratulations: if you understood that headline (much less are eager to read this post), you are officially a takings geek.
As we noted earlier, after the Supreme Court issued its decision in Arkansas Game and Fish Comm’n v. United States, No. 11-597 (Dec. 4, 2012), the Court of Federal Claimsin Big Oak Farms…
Predicting The Koontz Case: Six Possible Outcomes
Hat tip to ABA State and Local Government Law colleague (and fellow U.H. Law School alum) Julie Tappendorf for the lead on a newly-published article: John M. Baker and Katherine M. Swenson, Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District: Trudging Through a Florida Wetland with Nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices, in the latest…
Monday Round-Up: Casinos, Sandy Aftermath, Mortgage Seizure
What we’re reading today:
- Illinois casinos to have eminent domain power? – “Illinois Senate Approves Granting Eminent Domain Power to Casinos” – via Eminent Domain and Real Estate Blog.
- “Eminent Domain hurt black families” – an op-ed from the Knoxville, Tennessee paper by Robert Booker.
…
A Visit To Drake’s Bay Oyster Farm, Epicenter Of A California Food Fight
When we originally posted about Drake’s Bay Oyster Co. v. Salazar, No. 13-15227, an appeal now awaiting the Ninth Circuit’s ruling (oral argument video here, key briefs here), we knew further research on the issue was in order, perhaps by making a site visit. Yesterday, we had the opportunity to do just…
Final Briefs In Arkansas Game Remand (Flooding As A Taking)
Here are the latest (and last, presumably) briefs in the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States case, now in the Federal Circuit after remand by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court earlier reversed the Federal Circuit’s conclusion that government-induced flooding could not be a taking unless it was “permanent,” and remanded the case…
Oral Argument Video In Ninth Circuit Oyster Beef
Here’s the video of today’s Ninth Circuit oral arguments in Drake’s Bay Oyster Co. v. Jewell, the case about an oyster farm in Marin County’s Point Reyes National Seashore, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s decision to not renew its license. The Ninth Circuit has posted the briefs of the parties and amici here…
HAWSCT’s Latest On The “Private Attorney General” Fee-Shifting Doctrine
Here’s the latest decision from the Hawaii Supreme Court applying the “private attorney general” doctrine, which allows a prevailing party to recover fees and costs in certain limited circumstances. In Kaleikini v. Yoshioka, No. SCAP-11-0000611 (May 2, 2013), the court awarded attorneys’ fees and costs incurred on appeal to the plaintiffs who prevailed in…
Materials From Today’s Virginia Eminent Domain Conference
For those of you attending the Virginia Eminent Domain Conference, here’s the expanded papers on “Tough Takings Questions: Regulatory Takings, Zoning Issues and Judicial Takings” and Public Use issues.
Use the password provided at the conference to open the pdf’s. It’s the same p/w for both. If you forgot the password, email me.
For those who did not attend, sorry folks, there are some benefits to coming to a conference! Y’all are going to have to wait for a bit — after a decent interval to allow the attendees to get their money’s worth, we’ll remove the password.
For more about the cases and books we discussed yesterday during my presentation on “Virginia’s Place in National Eminent Domain Trends, check these out:
- Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff, 467 U.S. 229 (1984) (private takings, Public Use Clause).
- Lingle v. Chevron, U.S.A., Inc., 544 U.S. 528 (2005) (gas station rent control, and the demise of the “substantially advance” test as a takings test).
- Kaiser Aetna v. United States, 444 U.S. 164 (1979) (navigable waters, regulatory takings).
- Livingston v. Virginia Dep’t of Transportation, 726 S.E.2d 264 (Va. 2012) (flooding and taking liability).
- James Ely, The Guardian of Every Other Right: A Constitutional History of Property Rights (1998) (read this book!).
Continue Reading Materials From Today’s Virginia Eminent Domain Conference
Podcast On The Tombstone Federal Lands Access Case
Earlier today, the Supreme Court considered whether to grant review in City of Tombstone v. United States, No. 12-1069 (cert. petition filed Feb. 27, 2013).
The City of Tombstone‘s cert petition asks whether the city “is likely to succeed on the merits of the claim that the Forest Service violated the Tenth Amendment…

