Our friend Paul Schwind has been keeping us up to date on the progress, vel non, of the federal legal challenge to the Honolulu rail project. Paul’s most recent update was on the remedy hearing, and today he provides us with a breakdown of yesterday’s short ruling on the remedy the court is
Upcoming ALI-CLE Eminent Domain Conferences
It’s time for the annual ALI-CLE (fka ALI-ABA) eminent domain conferences, to be held January 24-26, 2013 in Miami Beach, Florida.
In the “advanced” course, Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, we’ll be covering topics such as “Condemning Underwater Mortgages,” “An Engineer’s Role in Damage,” “How To Develop and Implement a Business Plan for
“How a vicious circle of self-interest sank a California city”
This article, “Special Report: How a vicious circle of self-interst sank a California city” doesn’t have that much to do with our usual topics, but it’s close enough that we thought we’d pass it along.
It’s one view about how San Bernardino ended up in bankruptcy, and it’s a devastating read.
Mark Your Calendars: 10th Hawaii Land Use Law Conference (Jan. 17-18, 2013)
Planning co-chairs Professor David Callies and Ben Kudo have once again assembled a stellar faculty and put together an agenda that covers
“Eminently Reasonable,” Or Desperate Times Breed Desperate Measures?
In the op-ed piece “Eminently reasonable,” Brooklyn lawprof David Reiss writes that “using the power of eminent domain to restructure underwater mortgages is constitutional, beneficial and administratively feasible.”
Local governments across the country are considering an innovative use of eminent domain. They propose to condemn underwater mortgages (those that exceed the fair-market value
“Hey Look, Free Money!” Fed Agency Has Problems With The Plan To Take Underwater Mortgages
Today’s American Banker has a story on the latest development in the let’s-use-eminent-domain-to-take-underwater-mortgages scheme: the Federal Housing Finance Agency has sent a strong shot across the bow of local governments contemplating such a move (e.g., San Bernadino, Chicago, even Berkeley):
Uh, don’t.
Full statement here, or below. The American Banker story
Resources From Today’s ABA Eminent Domain Session
Here are the cases and links that I discussed at today’s ABA session on eminent domain:
- Kelo – Remember the holding of the case: the Court majority rejected the petitioners’ call to adopt a blanket rule that all takings supported only by claims of economic development violate the Public Use Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
Honolulu Premiere: “Urbanized” – Designing Cities, Working Cities
Thanks to the Land Use Prof Blog for getting the word out about the most recent documentary from filmmaker Gary Hustwit, “Urbanized,” which will have its Hawaii premier this weekend as part of Interisland Terminal‘s “Manufacturing Reality” film series.
The film examines how cities are designed — whether on purpose or though
Amicus Brief: Federal Takings Claims And State Law Claims … Ehh, What’s The Difference?
We couldn’t post much last week due to a pressing engagement on Friday before a three-judge federal district court (the case challenging Hawaii’s latest state reapportionment plan on Equal Protection grounds in which we represent the plaintiffs — more here). But the court took the matter under submission, so while we are awaiting a
Honolulu Eminent Domain Seminar – May 12, 2012
There is still time to register for the Eminent Domain & Land Use in Hawaii seminar, to be held this Thursday, May 12, 2012, in downtown Honolulu. Along with James Mee, I am leading the session “Eminent Domain Update” in which we will talk about the latest in public use issues from the U.S.