Water rights | Public trust

A fascinating case is now pending in Hawaii’s Intermediate Court of Appeals involving the nature of “Torrens” title and, in a broader sense, the nature of property rights themselves. 

Hawaii has had a dual system of land registration. One is your run-of-the-mill system of registering deeds (what we creatively call “Regular System”). The other is

When one lawyer writes that another is “my friend and colleague,” watch out: what follows may not be exactly friendly or collegial. For legal academics, the rule is even more pronounced when the friend-and-colleague’s name shows up in the title of an article.

In that vein, we bring you the latest chapter in the ongoing

Courtesy of the New York Times is the backstory of Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep’t of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11 (cert. granted. June 15, 2009). This, of course, is the “judicial takings” case that was argued in the Supreme Court last December, and is now awaiting disposition (our summary page contains

Barista’s note: we posted a version of this story before, on the 30th anniversary of the date the Court issued the opinion (December 4, 2009), but thought we would reprint a more detailed view, recently published in our firm’s newsletter, complete with photos.

Damon Key Celebrates Thirtieth Anniversary of Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Victory

What

The Federalist Societyhas posted a podcast of my Pacific Legal Foundation colleague Jim Burling discussing Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep’t of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11 (cert. granted. June 15, 2009):

If that doesn’t work for you, go here to download the mp3.

The Stop the Beach Renourishment case, which has been

Statelocalcover_1_2010_small The most recent edition of State & Local Law News has an article summarizing the arguments in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep’t of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11 (cert. granted. June 15, 2009). 

That case, which has been argued and is currently awaiting disposition by the Supreme Court, asks whether a state

Both parties have asked the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals to take another look at its opinion in Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. State of Hawaii, No. 28175 (Dec. 30, 2009).

In that case, the court held (1) the Hawaii Legislature took existing littoral accretion when it assigned ownership of the accretion from

Noparking Many years ago I got a parking ticket, my first. Here’s the story: when I left the car, it was a legal space, no meter. In the few hours I was away, the city public works department erected a “no parking” sign and painted the curb red. The police were equally efficient, and by the

No doubt about it, the biggest Hawaii-centric land use related story this year was the continuing saga of the Hawaii Superferry. The case resulted in above-the-fold headlines, blogs devoted to the issue, and at least two trips to the Hawaii Supreme Court. We even live blogged the oral arguments. A summary of the case is