Check out this post (“Did the Sixth Circuit Unintentionally Adopt an RLUIPA Equal Terms Test?“) from RLUIPA gurus Evan Seeman, Karla Chaffee, and Dwight Merriam on their RLUIPA Defense blog, analyzing the Sixth Circuit’s recent opinion in Tree of Life Christian Schools v. City of Upper Arlington, No. 14-3469 (May 18, 2016).
New Appellate Law May Shortcut “Death By A Thousand Days”
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser today ran a story by Timothy Hurley about a new bill adopted by the Hawaii legislature which puts certain cases on the appellate fast-track, “New law could speed process for Thirty Meter Telescope.”
The bill mandates that in certain cases, any administrative appeals skip the usual first two steps (circuit court
California Coastal Development In A Nutshell: Hire Jesus – Moses, Actually – To Sell Your Luxe Home Plans, And Become One With The Mountain.
A good story for your weekend reading from the Los Angeles Times, “U2’s The Edge and his decade-long fight to build on a pristine Malibu hillside,” about the rock guitarist’s decade-long effort to build his dream home compound in the exclusive coastal town. Running smack dab in to the California Coastal Commission
New Cert Petition: Are Legislative Exactions Immune From Nexus And Proportionality Requirements?
We thought there was a chance in a case out of San Jose, California, that the U.S. Supreme Court might take up the long-standing issue of whether legislatively-imposed exactions meet the nexus and proportionality unconstitutional conditions tests from Nollan, Dolan, and Koontz. Do those tests require an individualized determination, or is
Does New Hampshire Think It’s California? Wrongful Denial Of Demolition Permit Cannot Be A Taking Because City Was Merely Applying The Statute
The New Hampshire Supreme Court, in our view, got it wrong in Ashton v. City of Concord, No. 2015-0400 (Apr. 29, 2016). Really, really wrong.
Indeed, the New Hampshire court seems to have resurrected the California Supreme Court’s now-defunct rule from Agins v. City of Tiburon, 598 P.2d 25 (Cal. 1979), which held
Virginia: Taking By Eminent Domain Is “Purchasing” Property. Why? Because We Said So.
Is the forced acquisition of property by the government’s power of eminent domain a “purchase?” To the Virginia Supreme Court, the answer to that question is yes. Why, we’re not really sure, because the court doesn’t tell us why.
In City of Chesapeake v. Dominion SecurityPlus Self Storage, LLC, No. 150328 (Apr. 29, 2016)
Cal App: Beverly Hills Blocking Views Of The Hollywood Sign Isn’t Inverse Condemnation
When you think “LA” or Southern California, what comes to mind? Things like “the hills of Beverly Hills, the Hollywood Hills, and the Los Angeles basin, including the Hollywood sign, the Griffith Observatory, downtown Los Angeles, and … Mount Baldy,” perhaps?
Or maybe, like us, you think of prehistoric elephants stuck in tar.
But
Amici Brief: In Class Of One Equal Protection Claims, Is “Substantially Similar” A Search For Evidence, Or Unicorns?
Here’s the amici brief we’re filing today on behalf of the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center and the Hillsborough County Chapter of the NAACP in support of a cert petition now pending at the Supreme Court.
The case centers around a “class of one” Equal Protection claim in which the plaintiff/petitioner alleges
HAWSCT Says It Again: Court Won’t Create A Moratorium While “Important Ag Lands” Process Completes
In a ruling that no one who was paying attention could claim to be surprised by, the Hawaii Supreme Court yesterday issued a 4-1 memorandum opinion holding that the “agricultural lands” section of the Hawaii Constitution isn’t self-executing, and which approved the State Land Use Commission’s reclassification of land on Oahu from agricultural to urban
Hadacheck Revisited: The More Things Stay The Same Dep’t…
Earlier this week, we posted our visit to the site of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Hadacheck v. Sebastian, 239 U.S. 394 (1915). It’s been over 100 years since that case was decided by the Court, but to Hinga Mbogo, the Dallas auto mechanic profiled in the above video from the Institute for