Here's what caught our eye today:
- Last evening, we attended lawprof Gregory S. Alexander's talk at the U. Hawaii Law School, "Five Easy Pieces: Recurrent Themes in American Property Law." You know it's not a real academic talk until the speaker uses the words "normative" and "neologism," and Professor Alexander did not disappoint. But seriously, it was a thought-provoking hour, focused on our favorite topic, property law. A video was made, and hopefully the law school will post it on line so you can watch. We'll link to it when they do.
- "Va. high court to look at Beach eminent domain appeal," from the Hampton Roads newspaper, about a case which the Virginia Supreme Court just accepted. The case was triggered when the trial court refused to allow the jury to hear evidence of the DOT's first appraisal and deposit, which was higher than its final appraisal which it relied upon in trial. Adding insult to injury: the property owner withdrew the deposit, and were later forced to repay the difference, with interest, when the DOT submitted its second, lower appraisal. This is a troubling trend nationwide, and this appeal is a good vehicle to expose the tactic, Our Norfolk colleagues at Waldo & Lyle represent the property owners, so they are in good hands.
- First they came for the foie gras, and I said nothing ... "Supreme Court leaves California foie gras ban intact" from Reuters.
- "No more rooms - Against a network of officials and thugs, the law is no shield" - from The Economist, the story of one Qiao Shuzhi, of Beijing, People's Republic of China: "Now Mr Qiao, 64, has lost it all. He does not understand why the party, whose Central Committee has just met to extol the “rule of law”, cannot protect him from the developers and officials he accuses of grossly violating it. Wielding a sheaf of official papers that acknowledge his ownership of the building, Mr Qiao says he was abducted and held for 13 hours last December as the building was demolished by what he describes as a network of corrupt officials and developers. All of its contents were lost."
- Yes, they're really making a movie about Kelo. Our casting choices here.
