Our thanks to Professor/Dean/Provost Patricia Salkin and Lawprof Simone Freeman for inviting me to drop in on their Touro Law School Land Use class last evening to talk about regulatory takings and some of the interesting details of the Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon case from 1922.
We discussed the case, using some photos we took during our site visit to the former Mahon property and environs last year on the 100th anniversary of the date the Court issued the landmark opinion. We also emphasized the importance in dirt law cases generally to get yourself on the ground and see the property in question. Even though we have an amazing set of technical tools by which we can remotely get a sense of the land (Google Maps, Street View, for example), there is no substitute for getting yourself to the site to feel the ground, touch the dirt, understand the topography and geography, talk to the neighbors, and smell the air.
We're going to be continuing this conversation about how the last 100 years has treated the regulatory takings doctrine and the notion that an otherwise valid exercise of governmental power other than the power of eminent domain can nonetheless be deemed a taking requiring compensation if it "goes to far" in Holmes "storied but cryptic formulation." Come join us in early December at Pace Law School in White Plains for the 22nd annual Alfred B. DelBello Land Use and Sustainable Development Conference. We'll be speaking on the panel, "The 100th Anniversary of Pennsylvania Coal vs. Mahon: How the Takings Clause Became the Primary Check on Government Power When SCOTUS Abandoned Review Under the Due Process and Contracts Clauses During the New Deal."
Details here, including registration and the very reasonable tuition. See you there.
Thank you again to Professors Salkin and Freeman, for hosting us discussing our favorite topic!
Presentation, Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon Site Visit (Touro Law Land Use Oct. 29, 2023)
