A short one, but one worth noting. In Howard v. United States, No 09-575L (CFC Aug. 1, 2012), the U.S. Court of Federal Claims once again rejected the government’s too-clever-by-half argument in a railbanking case.
Thanks to colleague Thor Hearne for the heads-up on this decision.
If actor John Cusack is in favor of using eminent domain to condemn underwater mortgages, who are we to be naysayers? In light of his support, we’ll just have to revisit our earlier skepticism.
After all, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, you know.
Today’s American Banker has a story on the latest development in the let’s-use-eminent-domain-to-take-underwater-mortgages scheme: the Federal Housing Finance Agency has sent a strong shot across the bow of local governments contemplating such a move (e.g., San Bernadino, Chicago, even Berkeley):
Uh, don’t.
Full statement here, or below. The American Banker story
This past week was the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago. These things can often be endurance contests where you’re rushing from one meeting to another (is this the Executive Committee meeting or the Council meeting?), and it’s often hard to tell the players without a scorecard.
Sprinkled among these unexciting-but-productive sessions are the real meat
Here are the cases and links that I discussed at today’s ABA session on eminent domain:
text Idaho v. HI Boise, LLC, No. 38344 (June 29, 2012).
More here.
For those who listened in to the just-concluded “Recent Developments in Eminent Domain” teleconference, thank you. Here are the links to the cases and briefs that we discussed that were not included in your written materials. Also, click on the link above to order the audio CD of the program if you missed
Mark your calendars for next Tuesday, July 17, 2012, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern (noon CT, 11:00 a.m. MT, 10:00 a.m. PT, 7:00 a.m. Hawaii Time) for “Recent Developments in Eminent Domain,” a live audio program sponsored by Lorman Education.
It’s a 1.5 hour teleconference discussing some of the more important recent court decisions
Just published: the ABA Section of Litigation (Condemnation, Zoning, and Land Use Committee) has released The Law of Eminent Domain — A Fifty State Survey (First Chair Press 2012). This book is a “single resource for eminent domain practitioners … a reference for questions about eminent domain and condemnation procedure in every state and the
Check this out: my Owners’ Counsel of America colleague Kevin E. Anderson has a blog on eminent domain and related issues, forcusing on decisions from the Utah state and federal courts, Eminent Domain Review.
It’s not a new blog (Kevin has been posting since at least 2011), but it’s new to us, so