Vested rights

Here’s a cert petition that we’ve been waiting to drop in a case we’ve been following. This one asks whether a state legislature’s virtual elimination of a cause of action is a taking.

The harsh reality is that farms and ranches can stink. But in Right to Farm Acts, many state legislatures, Indiana’s

Our Louisiana friends have a great word — lagniappe — that we’re not sure we understand precisely, but to us has always meant that little something extra. As Mark Twain wrote, “[i]t is the equivalent of the thirteenth roll in a ‘baker’s dozen.’ It is something thrown in, gratis, for good measure.” As far as

Check this out. In Willowbrook Apts, LLC v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, No. 1:20-cv-01818 (July 6, 2020), the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland denied the plaintiff/property owner’s motion for a temporary restraining order, in a case challenging the COVID orders that pretty dramatically alter the landlord/tenant relationship in Maryland:

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Breaking! In H.C. Cornuelle, Inc. v. City and Cnty of Honolulu, No. 14068 (Haw. July 17, 1990), the Hawaii Supreme Court held that the City and County of Honolulu inversely condemned a strip of private property in downtown when it prohibited development and use of that land because the City intended to acquire it

A long opinion, but a short post. In Stanford Vina Ranch Irrigation Co. v. California, No. C085762 (June 18, 2020), the California Court of Appeal held that water rights are not really property rights.

That’s a bit of an overstatement, of course. But not a huge one.

In an inverse condemnation case, the court


Here’s the recording of the Federalist Society’s Environmental Law & Property Rights Practice Group teleforum we did a couple of weeks ago, “COVID-19 & Property Rights: Do Government Actions in Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic Create Compensable Takings?” Stream above, or download it here.

Here’s the latest complaint that alleges a taking arising out of the coronavirus situation. It joins a long list of similar lawsuits (See here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here, for example.

This one challenges the State of New

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Here’s what we’re reading today as we enter a long weekend (who can tell?):

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This fall, we’ll be back at the William and Mary Law School (hopefully in-person, depending on the circumstances and the yet-to-be-announced approach to be taken by the College of William and Mary), teaching two of our favorite subjects.

Not only will this be the third time leading Eminent Domain and Property Rights (Law 608), but

Here’s the latest complaint asserting that a state governor’s business shut-down order (under which certain businesses are deemed “essential,” while others not) is a taking, inter alia, that joins a growing list of similar lawsuits (see here, here, here, here, here and here).

This one is by licensed beauty