The Los Angeles Times reports “This land is their land — now,” a story out of Colorado about the ancient legal doctrine of adverse possession. According to the story, a retired judge and his lawyer spouse trespassed on a neighboring vacant parcel of land for over twenty years and then sued for
Land use law
New York Times: Judging Eminent Domain
By Robert H. Thomas on
Check out this NYT story on a $12.4m verdict in a Connecticut eminent domain abuse case.
A vast majority of cases challenging such takings are resolved through injunctions; takings temporarily halted by court injunction are often abandoned. But because Judge DeMayo had granted New England Estates and the landowners the right to seek a claim…
Third Circuit RLUIPA Decision – Circuit Split?
By Robert H. Thomas on
Visit the New Jersey Eminent Domain Law blog and read “RLUIPA, Redevelopment, and Eminent Domain,” a report about Lighthouse Institute for Evangelism, Inc. v. City of Long Branch, No. 06-1319 (Nov. 27, 2007), a recent decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (which covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware…
No. Cal. Federal Court Whacks City for $36.8m Inverse Condemnation Award
By Robert H. Thomas on
Update: More on the case here and here. Professor Gideon Kanner’s take on the case here.
Update 3/2008: The parties have settled.
Check out the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law issued by the US District Court for the Northern District of California in Yamagiwa v. City of Half Moon…
Law That Requires Sex Offender Move From Home is a Regulatory Taking
By Robert H. Thomas on
Thanks to both Patty Salkin’s Law of the Land blog and Gideon Kanner’s Gideon’s Trumpet, we’ve been alerted to a regulatory takings case from the Georgia Supreme Court that presents an unusual fact pattern. In Mann v. Georgia Dep’t of Corrections, No. S07A1043 (Nov. 21, 2007), the court struck down as an illegal…
Property Rights in the United States: a Debate (mp3)
By Robert H. Thomas on
The Federalist Society’s section on property rights and environmental law has posted audio (14mb mp3) (with video coming soon) of a recent debate held in Washington, D.C., about the state of Property Rights in the United States. Two Ninth Circuit judges, Alex Kozinski and Stephen Reinhardt, anchored the debate. Jim Burling of the Pacific…
Court of Federal Claims Takings Roundup
By Robert H. Thomas on
The US Court of Federal Claims (CFC) is the court assigned jurisdiction under the Tucker Act to hear inverse condemnation and regulatory takings claims against the federal government where the remedy sought is money damages. The CFC is an “article I” court meaning its judges do not have life tenure as do judges of article…
Some Thoughts on Goldstein v. Pataki
By Robert H. Thomas on
The University of Chicago Law Faculty Blog posts a link to a summary of a Cardozo School of Law panel discussion of the Atlantic Yards eminent domain case and the Goldstein v. Pataki appeal, and the “pretext” issue in post-Kelo public use litigation.
Wall St. Journal on Impact Fees and Exactions
By Robert H. Thomas on
The Wall Street Journal details impact fee issues in “Rising Use of ‘Impact’ Fees Rankles New-Home Buyers,” with some truly horrific examples, including one couple whom a California city demanded pay a $240,000 fee to get building permits to construct a rural home valued at $500,000, and homeowners who were required to sign…
Ahupuaa or Ili? HAWSCT on Hawaii Land Titles, the Great Mahele, and the Boundary Commission
By Robert H. Thomas on
Posted in Land use law, Water rights | Public trust
The Hawaii Supreme Court issued an opinion in Omerod v. Heirs of Kaheananui,No. 27118 (Nov. 15, 2007), a case which presents a fact pattern that is just so “Hawaii.” The case is a quiet title action, normally a sort ofho-hum affair long on detail, but short of broad interest. The decision, however, is notable…