Topics

42 U.S.C. § 1983 | Civil Rights

New Article: Timothy Harris, "The Contracts Clause Can be Enforced via Section 1983, Period: The Nonexistent Circuit Court 'Split'," 78 SMU L. Rev. Forum 106 (2025)CA9: No Claim For A SWAT Taking Because There's A Public Safety Exception To The Fifth Amendment

Administrative law

CA6 Adds To Williamson County Resurrection: You "Forfeit" Your Takings Claim When You Don't Exhaust Administrative Procedures To Ask For CompensationDeath By A Thousand Days: The Courts "have enabled interest groups to transform the bench into a tool to stymie any new development. It is long past time to correct our mistake."

Agriculture

The Doohickeys - Eminent Domain Country & WesternTexas: Liquid Oil And Gas Waste Belongs To Mineral Owner

Appellate law

Harvard Law School's Moot Court Problem This Year? Takings.SCOTUS Merits Brief (Ours) In Just Comp/Excessive Fines Case

Articles and publications

New Article: Timothy Harris, "The Contracts Clause Can be Enforced via Section 1983, Period: The Nonexistent Circuit Court 'Split'," 78 SMU L. Rev. Forum 106 (2025)New Book: Rethinking the Law of Private Property (J. Laitos, ed. 2025)

Attorneys Fees & Costs

South Dakota: Eminent Domain "is a highly specialized area of law that requires skill and experience..." Meriting Attorney's Fee Lodestar EnhancementHawaii Supreme Court: Beachfront Property Is Worthless

Blight

Savannah Bound: Don't Miss The 43rd ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference (Jan. 22-24, 2026)CA4: No Property Right To Conduct A Business, So No Taking For Police Response To Area Crime Surge

Brigham-Kanner Conference

Salus Populi Est Suprema Lex: 2025 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference ReportHere's The Agenda For The 2025 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference (Oct. 23-24, 2025)

Civil Forfeiture

CA10: Takings Clause Means Never Having To Administratively Ask To Get Your Property BackNew Article (Eric Claeys): "Takings and Choice of Law After Tyler v. Hennepin County"

Co-19

Harvard Law School's Moot Court Problem This Year? Takings.CA11: "[T]here is no COVID exception to the Takings Clause"

Contracts Clause

New Cert Petition - Time To Resolve Contract Clause Circuit Split: Can You Raise A Claim Via Section 1983?Should We Make Anything Of The Supreme Court's Denial Of Four Property Rights Petitions?

Court of Federal Claims | Federal Circuit

CA10: Can't Use Declaratory Judgment Before Seeking Tucker Act CompensationIs A Gov't Cert Petition In Darby (Eviction Moratorium Physical Takings) Forthcoming?

Development agreements

NC: If A Taking Is Determined To Lack A Public Use, Title Revests In Private Owner. If Construction Already Taken Place, Restoration Is An Available RemedyCA8: You Believed The County When It Promised In The Settlement Agreement To Not Take Your Land In The Future? Shame On You!

Dirt Law

SCOTUS Origami Boulders, Bundles Of Sticks, Lumps Of (Pennsylvania) Coal, And Bags O' Dirt: Presenting Your 2025 Dirt Lawyer Holiday Gift Guide (Including Last-Minute Entries)You Don't Look A Day Over 98, Euclid

Due process

New Cert Petition: Are Procedural Due Process Claims Subject To The Same Ripeness Rules As Takings Claims?New Cert Petition: You Can't Go Your Own Way On Takings, California

Eminent Domain | Condemnation

South Dakota: Eminent Domain "is a highly specialized area of law that requires skill and experience..." Meriting Attorney's Fee Lodestar EnhancementSavannah Bound: Don't Miss The 43rd ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference (Jan. 22-24, 2026)

Environmental law

Registration Open: 22d Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference, Oct. 23-24, 2025, WilliamsburgNew Article: "Stopping a Cat-tastrophe: States Must Develop Stricter Management Regimes for Controlling Feral Cat Populations," 49 Wm. & Mary Env't L. & Pol'y Rev. 739 (2025) (J. Cameron Niemeyer)

Equal Protection

Who Cares Your "Evidence" Shows This Is Just An Old Part Of Chicago - All That Matters Is The City Says It's HistoricNew Cert Petition (Michael Berger): Pleading Class-Of-One Equal Protection Claims

Events | Conferences

Savannah Bound: Don't Miss The 43rd ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference (Jan. 22-24, 2026)Apply Now: Owners' Counsel Scholarship (ALI-CLE Conference)

Excessive fines

SCOTUS Merits Brief (Ours) In Just Comp/Excessive Fines Case

Floods and Flooding

Savannah Bound: Don't Miss The 43rd ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference (Jan. 22-24, 2026)CA5: Land Value From "Holding For Investment" (aka Speculation) Is Not An Economically-Beneficial Use

Historic Preservation

"This Was Not Written For Chiefs!" - Happy Constitution Day 2025Here's The Agenda For The 2025 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference (Oct. 23-24, 2025)

Housing

You Don't Look A Day Over 98, EuclidHere's The Agenda For The 2025 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference (Oct. 23-24, 2025)

Intellectual Property

Thursday Round Up: Pretextual Takings, Squatting, Unconstitutional ConditionsHappy New Year: Say Goodbye To The Right To Exclude, Steamboat Willie

Inverse condemnation

Ohio: City Can Be Liable For Inverse Condemnation Of Land Outside Its Geographic JurisdictionSavannah Bound: Don't Miss The 43rd ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference (Jan. 22-24, 2026)

Judicial Takings

CA9: District Court's Contempt Order Isn't A Judicial TakingBreaking News: Come Join Us For The 42d ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference, San Diego, Jan 30-Feb 1

Just Compensation | Appraisal

SCOTUS Merits Brief (Ours) In Just Comp/Excessive Fines CaseSavannah Bound: Don't Miss The 43rd ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference (Jan. 22-24, 2026)

Land use law

Fla SCT Declines Review: En Banc Court Of Appeal Decision That Downzoning Was A Lucas Taking (And Sale Of Property For Third-Party TDRs Is Not A "Use"), StandsCA6: RLUIPA Claim Subject To Williamson County Final Decision Ripeness Because It's A "Land Use" Issue

Municipal & Local Govt law

CA6: RLUIPA Claim Subject To Williamson County Final Decision Ripeness Because It's A "Land Use" IssueOhio: City Can Be Liable For Inverse Condemnation Of Land Outside Its Geographic Jurisdiction

Necessity

CA9: No Claim For A SWAT Taking Because There's A Public Safety Exception To The Fifth AmendmentSavannah Bound: Don't Miss The 43rd ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference (Jan. 22-24, 2026)

Nollan/Dolan | Exactions

CA9: No Evidence That Exaction Was ProportionalHere's The Agenda For The 2025 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference (Oct. 23-24, 2025)

Penn Central

CA9: District Court's Contempt Order Isn't A Judicial TakingSouth Carolina: Restaurant Was Not Taken When County Permitted Another Adjacent Restaurant

Physical Invasion | Yee

CA11: "[T]here is no COVID exception to the Takings Clause"Ohio: City Can Be Liable For Inverse Condemnation Of Land Outside Its Geographic Jurisdiction

Pipelines

Death By A Thousand Days: The Courts "have enabled interest groups to transform the bench into a tool to stymie any new development. It is long past time to correct our mistake."CA8: Local Ordinances Regulating Pipelines Are Preempted By State And Federal Pipeline Law

Police Power

You Don't Look A Day Over 98, EuclidCA11: "[T]here is no COVID exception to the Takings Clause"

Property rights

Fla SCT Declines Review: En Banc Court Of Appeal Decision That Downzoning Was A Lucas Taking (And Sale Of Property For Third-Party TDRs Is Not A "Use"), StandsYou Don't Look A Day Over 98, Euclid

Property tax

Michigan: Gov't Can't Avoid A Rafaeli Taking Just By Having A Proxy Do ItOne City, Many Votes: Cal App OK's Municipal Sleight-of-Law To Permit City To Impose Fees... On Itself (And Others)

Public Use | Kelo

Savannah Bound: Don't Miss The 43rd ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference (Jan. 22-24, 2026)Kelo Reargued: Has 20 Years of Controversy Changed the Eminent Domain Debate?

Rail

Breaking News: Come Join Us For The 42d ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference, San Diego, Jan 30-Feb 1Registration For The 42d ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference Is Underway (Don't Miss Out!)

Rails-to-Trails

CA10 On Causby, Open Range, And Corner Crossings: Owners Have A Right To Exclude, But Not If Doing So Fully Encloses Public LandsCFC: Attorneys Fee Shifting "incentivizes the government to negotiate fairly, minimize delays, and avoid frivolous takings"

Redevelopment

Here's The Agenda For The 2025 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference (Oct. 23-24, 2025)"There's no doubt about it - The Castle is the best Aussie movie of all time"

Regulatory takings

Fla SCT Declines Review: En Banc Court Of Appeal Decision That Downzoning Was A Lucas Taking (And Sale Of Property For Third-Party TDRs Is Not A "Use"), StandsHarvard Law School's Moot Court Problem This Year? Takings.

Relocation | URA

The Doohickeys - Eminent Domain Country & WesternCFC: Attorneys Fee Shifting "incentivizes the government to negotiate fairly, minimize delays, and avoid frivolous takings"

Rent Control

CA9: Pharma Has No Expectation Of Nondisclosure, So State Disclosing Trade Secrets Is Not A Penn Central TakingCal App: No Fair Return Procedures Required Unless You First Show Lack Of Fair Return

Ripeness | Knick

New Cert Petition: Are Procedural Due Process Claims Subject To The Same Ripeness Rules As Takings Claims?CA6: RLUIPA Claim Subject To Williamson County Final Decision Ripeness Because It's A "Land Use" Issue

RLUIPA | religious land use

CA6: RLUIPA Claim Subject To Williamson County Final Decision Ripeness Because It's A "Land Use" IssueRestriction In Gov't-Granted Deed Limiting Uses To "Church purposes" Can't Be Enforced

Schadenfreude

NC: If A Taking Is Determined To Lack A Public Use, Title Revests In Private Owner. If Construction Already Taken Place, Restoration Is An Available RemedyMust-Listen Podcast: "Neat Takings Tricks" (Bound by Oath, S3, E3)

Search and Seizure | 4A

CA7: No Taking For SWAT Destroying Property While Executing Valid WarrantIowa: Govt-Granted Property Rights Can Be Altered By The Legislature

Shoreline | CZMA

Hawaii Supreme Court: Beachfront Property Is WorthlessSCOTUS Hat Trick? Houseboat Guy Returns For Shot At Lucas Ripeness

Sovereign Immunity | 11th Amendment

Harvard Law School's Moot Court Problem This Year? Takings.CA11: State Can Be Ordered To Stop Withholding Just Compensation

State Constitutions

Tex App: Like We Said Before, Property Owners Are Likely To Succeed In Challenge To Short-Term Rental Ban

Tyler takings

SCOTUS Merits Brief (Ours) In Just Comp/Excessive Fines CaseCA3: No Taking Until You Ask For Your Property Back

UIPA - Public Records Law

Tex App: A Fight Over Who Owns A Historic Letter Isn't A Takings ProblemNo FOMO: There's Still Room For You To Join Us In New Orleans Feb 1-3, 2024 For The 41st ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference

Uncategorized

Landmarking A Landmark: Pennsylvania Coal v. Mahon Getting A Roadside Marker2025 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Speakers

Vacation rentals

Tex App: Like We Said Before, Property Owners Are Likely To Succeed In Challenge To Short-Term Rental BanTex App: Challengers Likely To Succeed On Due Course Of Law Claim For Short-Term Rental Ban

Vested rights

Tex App: Like We Said Before, Property Owners Are Likely To Succeed In Challenge To Short-Term Rental BanHouston Says 'Welcome!' - What Happens When Another City Has No Zoning?

Voting rights | election law

One City, Many Votes: Cal App OK's Municipal Sleight-of-Law To Permit City To Impose Fees... On Itself (And Others)County: We're Short Of Housing, So Let's Do Rent Control! Court: Not So Fast.

Water rights | Public trust

New Cert Petition: Are Water Rights "Property?"Texas: Liquid Oil And Gas Waste Belongs To Mineral Owner

Wildfires | Flooding

2025 Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute, Denver (March 5-7, Denver U. Law School)Fourth Branch Podcast: Talcott & Kochan On "Rebuilding California: Lessons from the Pacific Palisades Fire"

Zoning & Planning

You Don't Look A Day Over 98, EuclidSouth Carolina: Restaurant Was Not Taken When County Permitted Another Adjacent Restaurant