By now, you know that the 19th Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference is set for September 29-30, 2022, at the William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia (register here – space is limited – fee ranges from free to $195 – a bargain!). And you know that our colleague Jim Burling is this
Inverse condemnation
New Article: “Taking One for the Team: COVID-19 Eviction Moratoria as Regulatory Takings”
Check it out: a new article from the San Diego Law Review that’s worth reading. Here’s the Abstract:
This Comment explores potential Fifth Amendment challenges to COVID-19 eviction restrictions. Part II introduces California and federal COVID-19 eviction laws and lays out an organizational framework for analysis. Part III provides background on relevant regulatory takings jurisprudence.
New Article: Serkin, “What Property Does,” 75 Vand. L. Rev. 891 (2022)
Worth checking out: Christopher Serkin, What Property Does, 75 Vand. L. Rev. 891 (2022).
Covering (inter alia) property, rule against perpetuities, adverse possession, Lucas background principles, judicial and regulatory takings, Mahon v. Keystone Bituminous, and vested rights and amortization of preexisting uses.
Here’s the abstract:
For centuries, scholars have wrestled with…
CA6: Dammed If You Do – Takings Claim Is Ripe When Govt Decides To Physically Invade And You Don’t Need To Wait ‘Til It Actually Invades
We’ve been meaning to post the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s opinion in Barber v. Charter Twp of Springfield, No. 20-2298 (Apr. 11, 2022) for a while because it emphasizes an important point about “final decision” ripeness, and the sometimes ridiculous arguments made to support an argument that a takings claim…
CAFED: Flooded Property Owners Owned Property
We’ve covered some of the litigation against the federal government for its actions flooding property during Hurricane Harvey, including at least one from the “upstream” owners. Well here’s one from the case involving the “downstream” owners.
In Milton v. United States, No. 21-1131 (June 2, 2022), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the…
District Court: City Liable For Physical Taking For Destroying Home While Apprehending A Criminal
Here’s a pretty rare one: a trial court entering summary judgment on liability in favor of the property owner in a takings case. Yes, you read that right.
And to top it off, this ruling comes in a case in which the taking alleged was a police invasion and destruction of a home for the…
Texas: City Illegally Cutting Off Utilities Isn’t A Taking – It Needs To Be Regulating “Land Use”
In City of Baytown v. Schrock, No. 20-0309 (May 13, 2022), the Texas Supreme Court held that it isn’t a taking when a city, in violation of state law, cuts off utility services to property.
The issue, as the court restated it, was “whether a claim of economic harm to property resulting from the…
Who Let The Dogs In? Property Owners Challenge Virginia’s “Right to Retrieve” Law That Allows Hunters (& Dogs) To Trespass
After the U.S. Supreme Court in Cedar Point Nursery reminded everyone that the Court’s longstanding focus on the right to exclude others as one of the most fundamental of property rights is as fresh today as it ever was (see Kaiser Aetna (uninvited boaters), Loretto (cable TV box), Nollan (beachcombers) and…
“Something is very wrong with this picture.” Cal Ct App Calls Out CEQA (“fearsome weapon”), Tiburon’s “official hostility,” And “combined animus of two levels of local government”
Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows Tiburon, California, even if you’ve never stepped foot there. Yes, that Tiburon. Well, the beat goes on: the Agins litigation wasn’t the only time that the town and its residents combined forces to try and draw up the drawbridge and prevent the building of more…
Hawaii Land Use Law Conference, May 25-26, 2022, Honolulu – Join Us!
It’s back! After a hiatus on the in-person program, the bi-annual Hawaii Land Use Conference is back in-person (see here for a sample of one of our prior presentations at this conference).
May 25 and 26, 2022, downtown Honolulu.
The full agenda and speaker list has not yet been published, but here’s a summary…





