Tomorrow, November 22, 2025 is the 99th anniversary of the day in 1926 when the United States Supreme Court issued its landmark opinion in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365 (Nov. 22, 1926).
You know this one (and can you call yourself a dirt lawyer if you don’t?).
As we wrap up another year, it’s time to look ahead to the one event that always gets our eminent domain blood pumping: the annual ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conference. Details, including faculty list, a complete agenda, and registration information is posted here.
Now in its 43rd year, this flagship gathering
This is going to be a short post, mostly because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s opinion in KOGAP Ent., Inc. v. City of Medford, No 24-5268 (Nov. 13, 2025) is itself short.
Before we go further, this disclosure: this is one of ours, and our Pacific Legal Foundation colleague Brian
Here’s a case that isn’t about takings and our usual fare, but is nonetheless an example of how dirt law can be fascinating.
In Hilo Bay Marina, LLC v. State of Hawaii, No. SCAP-23-0000310 (Sep. 12, 2025), the Hawaii Supreme Court held that a restriction in a land patent issued by the State of Hawaii’s predecessor-in-interest (the Territory of Hawaii) in 1922, that limited the uses of the land to “Church purposes only” cannot be enforced under the state constitution’s establishment clause.
Continue Reading Restriction In Gov’t-Granted Deed Limiting Uses To “Church purposes” Can’t Be Enforced
As you already know, registration is also underway for the 22d Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference, October 23-24, 2025, at the William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia.
The Conference is expressly designed to get legal academics and the nation’s best dirt law practitioners in the same room, discussing how legal scholarship and law
That’s right, it’s time to plan on joining us at the 22d edition of the best one-day property law conference, William and Mary Law School‘s Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference.
As we noted, Professor William Fischel will be awarded the 2025 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize at the annual Wren Building candlelight ceremony in Williamsburg
The room where it happened.
We’re not going to say much about the California Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, No. C093682 (July 29, 2025), which is back in the California court system after remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, because it is one of ours.
Check this out, a new student note published in the latest edition of the William and Mary Environmental and Policy Review, J. Cameron Niemeyer, Stopping a Cat-tastrophe: States Must Develop Stricter Management Regimes for Controlling Feral Cat Populations, 49 Wm. & Mary Env’t L. & Pol’y Rev. 739 (2025).
This interesting — and kind of funny — story has been circulating: “Judge’s ruling means Charlottesville has no zoning laws whatsoever right now.”
What happened? Is the counter-Euclid revolution underway? Did the judge rediscover Nectow? Did Charlottesville voters decide to go Full Houston?
No, nothing quite as dramatic. The story