One should never be surprised, we suppose, when the Supreme Court denies a cert petition due to the daunting statistics, but we really thought that maybe the third time was a charm for the quick-take-by-preliminary-injunction issue, and that the Givens petition had a real chance. The petition was strong, the issue (in our opinion) was compelling: can private pipeline companies obtain immediate precondemnation possession of land and start construction of a pipeline even though the Natural Gas Act delegates to them only the straight-takings power?
Alas no, the Court today issued an Order declining to review the case (and gazillions of others). The circuit split is the Seventh vs everyone else, but apparently the Supreme Court is more interested in ensuring the circuits are consistent than it is about separation of powers issues, and making sure that the "despotic power" is wielded carefully, especially when it is private for-profit pipelines doing the taking.
But it took more than 30 years for the court to wake up to Williamson County's problems, and as a colleague pointed out today, we're already more than halfway there on this issue.
So as always, stay tuned.
