Here’s the opinion in a case we’ve been following. In Berkley v. Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, No. 18-1042 (July 25, 2018), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the federal Natural Gas Act allows the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to delegate eminent domain authority to Mountain Valley, and that any challenges
Property rights
No New Trial In Hawaii Regulatory Takings Case; Next Stop, Ninth Circuit
Here’s the latest in a case we’ve been following, a regulatory takings dispute from the Big Island of Hawaii.
Last we reported, the jury (after deliberating for a grand total of 15 minutes) held the State of Hawaii Land Use Commission liable for a regulatory taking. But unbeknownst to the jurors, the court…
Tuesday Reading List – Flood Takings, Cuba Property, Beach Access, And … Space Aliens
Here’s what we are reading (or listening to) this Tuesday:
- Richard Epstein’s podcast on “Is it a Taking When the Government Floods Your House?” (Federalist Society)
- Teaching takings: Professor Stephen R. Miller on Contemporary Issues in Teaching Land Use: Question 8: Hot Topics in Takings (lawprof blawg)
- “Communist-run Cuba to recognize private
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What Might A Justice Kavanaugh Mean For Takings, Land Use, And Other Issues?
Clare Trapasso has a Realtor.com piece on what a Justice Kavanaugh could mean for real estate, property, and land use issues, “What Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Could Mean for Real Estate,” where she correctly notes that “while commentators have been scrutinizing Kavanaugh’s record on hot-button topics like abortion and immigration, there’s been…
Links And Materials From Today’s Transportation Research Board Session
Here are the cases and other items I either spoke about or mentioned at today’s Transportation Research Board‘s 57th Annual Workshop on Transportation Law in Cambridge, Massachusetts:
- The Colorado public use cases: public use vs. public purpose: Lafayette and Carousel Farms
- On the Supreme Court docket: Violet Dock Port (SCOTUS, Louisiana)
- The Louisiana Supreme
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DC Cir: No Property Right In A Clean And Pure Environment Because No Right To Exclude Others
Remember that case from earlier this year where the Hawaii Supreme Court held that for purposes of Hawaii’s Due Process Clause, the Sierra Club (any “person,” actually) has a property right in a “clean and healthful environment?”
We asked if that were the case, then what does that “property” right look like? For example, how…
SCOTUS Amici Brief: Kelo Revisited – Louisiana Case Is An Opportunity To Clarify Eminent Domain Pretext
Here’s the amici brief we’re filing in an important Public Use case we’ve been following.
In St. Bernard Port, Harbor & Terminal District v. Violet Dock Port, Inc., No. 2017-C-0434 (Jan. 30, 2017), the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the taking by the St. Bernard Port, Harbor, and Terminal District of a Mississippi River docking facility…
Honolulu’s Sidewalk Obstruction Prohibition Goes Island-Wide
Honolulu’s homeless problem is a tough nut to crack. There are no easy answers. People have rights, even if that means they have the freedom to live outside. But when a walk out the door of your downtown office becomes an exercise in dodging human waste, poor unfortunates in various stages of mental illness…
New Cert Petition: The Other Williamson County Ripeness Test, Intentional Precondemnation Value Depression
Here’s a cert petition we’ve been waiting to drop, in a case we’ve been following out of Florida.
In Town of Ponce Inlet v. Pacetta, LLC, No. 5D14-4520 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. June 16, 2017), the Florida District Court of Appeal reversed a Lucas takings verdict, concluding the case might not even be ripe …



