Solicitor General To Get Face Time In Judicial Takings Case

In an order issued yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the SG's motion for leave to participate in oral argument as amicus curiae and for divided argument in Stop the Beachfront Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep't of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11 (cert. granted. June 15, 2009). The federal government's amicus brief is available here.

In Walton County v. Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc., 998 So.2d 1102 (Fla. Sep. 29, 2008), the Florida Supreme Court held that a state statute which prohibits "beach renourishment" without a permit did not effect a taking of littoral (beachfront) property, even though it altered the long-standing rights of the owners to accretion on their land and direct access to the ocean. The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether the Florida court's reversal of more than 100 years of Florida law was a judicial taking, and whether the Florida court's decision violated due process.

We filed an amicus brief in the case supporting the property owners, which is available here.

Oral arguments are scheduled for Wednesday, December 2, 2009. All briefs and more about the case on our resource page and in this report from the Destin Log (the hometown newpaper).