Today was the Hawaii premiere of Battle For Brooklyn, the Oscar-shortlisted documentary film about the Atlantic Yards case. We’re introducing the film and conducting a question-and-answer session after each showing.
Screening information: Tuesday and Wednesday, January 3 and 4, at 1:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. each day at the Doris Duke Theater. More
Today’s 6-1 California Supreme Court opinion in California Redevelopment Association v. Matosantos, No. S194861 (Dec. 29, 2011) brings to mind two of our favorite loanwords: schadenfreude (deriving pleasure from the misfortune of others) and schlimmbesserung (to worsen by improvement).
The first because we can’t say we’re crying much about the takedown of California redevelopment
As we noted earlier today (“Cal Supreme Court “Redevelops” Redevelopment Agencies“), the California Supreme Court has dealt a stunning blow to the redevelopment-industrial compex in California. Here’s more from media outlets and legal commentators:
In what can only be considered a major takedown of the redevelopment game, the California Supreme Court in a 6-1 opinion (Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye concurring and dissenting), held that the state legislature could eliminate redevelopment agencies without violating the California Constitution. What the lege giveth, the lege may taketh away. It upheld the statute dissolving
As we predicted in our oral argument preview, the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals made short work of the issues in City & County of Honolulu v. Sherman, No. 28945 (Dec. 27, 2011). Just two weeks after oral argument, the court issued its opinion (unpublished; again, not a surprise).
The court concluded that
Once again, our old friend and colleague Paul Schwind is following an interesting ongoing case. We’ve been tracking the “Bridge Aina Le`a” litigation, but have not had the time to digest the latest developments in a comprehensive fashion and Paul attended the recent federal court hearing in the federal phase, and has kindly provided
In Landlord’s Uphill Fight to Ease Rent Restrictions, The New York Times reports on the Harmon cert petition (we posted the petition and the amici briefs in that case here), a challenge to New York City’s rent control ordinance.
We won’t rehash our thoughts on the case, but wanted to point out what
China has been on our mind lately. Maybe it’s our recent attendance at the Brigham-Kanner property rights conference held in Beijing in October. Maybe it’s last week’s talk to our law firm by an old friend on lessons that can be learned from China’s move from communism to a market economy.
Whatever is causing China
Here’s the respondent’s merits brief in Filarksy v. Delia, No. 10-1018 (cert. granted Sep. 27, 2011), the case in which the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether a private lawyer hired by a local government is entitled to claim the same immunities from section 1983 lawsuits as his government-employed counterparts.
We filed an amicus
We’re gearing up for a Supreme Court argument tomorrow, so don’t have time at the moment to digest the entirety of today’s opinion in Avenida San Juan P’ship v. City of San Clemente, No. G043479 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 14, 2011). But a quick glance tells us we’re going to like it.
A California