So close: if just one more Justice had agreed, the U.S. Supreme Court would have taken up a public use case we’ve been following, Brinkmann v. Town of Southhold. After all, this one had a lot of the usual markers: a divided court below, an allegation of a lower court split, beaucoup amicus support
Property rights
Nobel Economics Prize To Research Confirming The Importance Of The Rule Of Law And Property Rights
This out of Sweden: the Royal Swedish Academy of Science has announced that it will be awarding the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics to three U.S. econ professors whose research demonstrates that the rule of law and property rights foster an environment where democracy and prosperity flourish:
The laureates have shown that one explanation for…
Apparently, The “Final Frontier” Isn’t Space, But The California Coastal Zone
Following up on our recent post about the California Coastal Commission denying permission for Space-X to increase the number of annual launches from Vandenberg, comes this, the other shoe.
The Commission has now been sued, with Space-X alleging that the Commission denied permission due to CEO Elon Musk’s political leanings and his public…
New Cert Petition: Eviction Moratorium Transferred Possession Easement To Nonpaying Tenants
Here’s the latest in a case we’ve been following, which asks whether a local ordinance which allowed non-paying tenants to remain in the lessor’s property is a physical taking, or merely the regulation of the lessor/lessee relationship under the Yee theory, which posits that once an owner voluntarily rents property to a tenant…
You Thought We Were Joking When We Said The California Coastal Commission Would Never Allow Starfleet Headquarters To Be Built
The California Coastal Commission has now reached the parody stage.
In the “Star Trek” TV shows and movies, Starfleet Headquarters is depicted as being across the Golden Gate from San Francisco, in the Marin Headlands. It’s a longstanding joke among those who know about the regulatory overreach of the California…
Imagining The Future Of Regulatory Takings: “Making Property Rights Cool Again”

Lawprof Ilya Somin (GMU Law), Mercatus Center’s Charles Gardner,
and lawyer Emily Cruikshank Bayonne (Tubman Realty, LLC)
speaking on “How Policy Changes Can Address Incursions on
Property Rights Where Courts Have Failed to do So.”
Jim Burling (PLF) moderating.
Recently, we attended a wonderful symposium co-sponsored by George Mason Law School’s Journal of …
Hawaii Dirt Lawyers: Don’t Miss “Property Rights & Regulatory Takings” CLE At The HSBA Convention (In-Person & Webcast)
Hawaii lawyers (and those barred in the 808), take note: On October 21, 2024, the Hawaii State Bar Association will hold its annual Convention, and as always there’s a full lineup of CLE programs so you can meet your MCLE requirements.
Thanks to the Real Property & Financial Services Section, there’s a significant dirt law…
No SWAT Takings In CA6: Police’s Power To Arrest Includes Privilege To Damage Property
If there’s a silver lining in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s opinion in Slaybaugh v. Rutherford County, No. 23-5765 (Sep. 3, 2024), a case about what we call “SWAT takings” (police destroy someone’s property in order to dislodge a criminal suspect), it’s that the court did not adopt…
21st Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Report
Here’s the full report from David Morrill about the 21st Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference earlier this month. Pictured above: Professor James Stern (responsible for the overall planning of the B-K Conference), this year’s Prizewinner Professor Lee Fennell (U. Chicago Law School), and Andrew Brigham, St. Augustine, Florida – property rights lawyer extraordinaire).
Here are what…
Too Far: Imagining the Future of Regulatory Takings (Friday, Oct. 4, 2024)
There’s still time to join us next Friday, October 4, 2024, at the Antonin Scalia Law School (George Mason University) for the symposium “Too Far: Imagining the Future of Regulatory Takings.”
Co-produced by our outfit (Pacific Legal Foundation) and the Journal of Law, Economics & Policy, the symposium will feature the…




