On behalf of the property owner, we’ve filed a Motion for Reconsideration (filed May 1, 2009) of the Hawaii Supreme Court’s latest opinion in which the court held that a condemnee who appeals the denial ofdamages for a failed taking is entitled to damages it sustains onappeal. The opinion had three points that merited correction:
Monday Eminent Domain Round-Up
Here’s what we’ve been reading today:
- There Goes the Neighborhood: A Fight Over Defining “Blight” – the Wall Street Journal focuses on the blight issue, which in most jurisdictions is a case of the tail wagging the dog: if the government wants your property, it’s “blighted.”
- From the Florida Bar Journal, Eminent Domain: Identifying Issues
WA Court Of Appeals: Delegations Of Eminent Domain Power To Municipalities Strictly Construed
A state law providing that airport boards may exercise the powers of the municipalities which appoint them, but which also requires a condemnation action by an airport board “be instituted in the names of the municipalities jointly,” prohibits an airport board from instituting an eminent domain suit in its own name. In Spokane Airports v.
West Hawaii Today On Latest HAWSCT Opinion In Eminent Domain Abuse Cases
The Big Island’s West Hawaii Today reports “Both sides claim win in latest ruling” about the Hawaii Supreme Court’s recent opinion in the cases involving the County of Hawaii’s attempt to take the property of a Kona family to meet the County’s obligations under a development agreement with the developer of the Hokulia
New York Times Profiles Kelo, The “Eminent Domain Crusader”
In “Spotlight Finds Eminent Domain Crusader,” the New York Times profiles Susette Kelo, the name behind the infamous eminent domain decision Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005), and the subject of a recent book about the case, Little Pink House – A True Story of Defiance and Courage
Little Pink House Event Report
I was fortunate enough yesterday to attend an event with Jeff Benedict, who spoke about his recently-published book Little Pink House – A True Story of Defiance and Courage (Grand Central Publishing 2009) (available from Amazon here).
Little Pink House gives the backstory to the infamous Supreme Court eminent domain decision Kelo v.
Monday Round-Up
Several diverse items, for your consideration:
- Columnist George Will opines about the Empress Casino Joliet case — the one where the Illinois Supreme Court held that aregulation imposing a 3%”surcharge” on Illinois casinos with gross receipts over $200 millionper year, and then gives the money to horse racing tracks is not ataking of property. The
So. Cal. Heads-Up: Jeff Benedict/Little Pink House In Santa Barbara On Tuesday 4/14
For those of you within striking range of Santa Barbara on Tuesday, April 14, Jeff Benedict, the author of Little Pink House – A True Story of Defiance and Courage (Grand Central Publishing 2009) (available from Amazon here) will be speaking at the Community Leaders Forum from 5-7pm in the Loggia Ballroom at
Pretext In Eminent Domain: Law Of The Land On The Coupe Opinion
Dean Patty Salkin’s Law of the Land blog posts James Lawlor’s summary of the Hawaii Supreme Court’s decision in County of Hawaii v. C&J Coupe Family Ltd. P’ship, 119 Haw. 352, 198 P.3d 615 (2008), “Court Must Decide If Public Purpose Claimed for Road Was Pretextual.”
The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled a
New Article: Is Eminent Domain Reform Just Window Dressing?
A new article from the ABA Journal “Where’s the Revolution” about whether post-Kelo reforms of eminent domain law have any real effect on the law. According to the summary of the article on the Geo. Mason U. law school web site:
Despite the fact that the Supreme Court’s 5-4 vote in Kelo