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How does the 5th Amendment impact American’s everyday lives? In 2013, the government forced Rose Knick to grant the public access to her farmland after it was rumored to be the location of a former burial site. Rose was offered no compensation in exchange for this requirement to allow would-be grave seekers to trespass on … ...

Most people don’t think about the Takings Clause in their everyday life. But as a constitutional attorney I find that I think about it more than most. One evening several years ago, someone smashed the passenger window of my unattended, worn-down car and stole several items. I was frustrated to find a damp car seat … ...

In an attempt to preserve undeveloped beachfront land in Maui, Maui County planned to purchase nine parcels to create a park. But the County ran into a predictable problem; beachfront lots in Maui don’t come cheap. As a result, seven of the parcels ended up in the hands of private landowners. So the County achieved … ...

Originally published in the Daily Journal, October 8, 2018.  This term the Supreme Court has a chance to overturn a decades-old decision that kept many property owners out of federal courts. Thirty-three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court struck a serious blow to the constitutional rights of private property owners nationwide. A court decision to ...

This week, Pacific Legal Foundation filed its Reply Brief in support of its Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the Pacetta v. Town of Ponce Inlet case. Pacetta, a case trapped in the court system for years, is an important case for all land owners who find themselves at the mercy of a local government … ...

Earlier this week, we learned that the U.S. Supreme Court would not hear the important takings case arising from the Florida Keys known as Ganson v. City of Marathon. … ...

Like many members of that generation, Gordon and Molly Beyer bought land in Florida with a hope to one day have a residence in the Sunshine State. Unfortunately, the government had other ideas. … ...

This week, PLF filed this amicus brief in Beach Group Investments, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection.  This case raises yet another example of how the lower courts are struggling to interpret the Supreme Court’s “final decision ripeness” rule in takings claims. The takings ripeness doctrine requires a final a ...

The Florida Legislature expects the courts of this bonny state to protect property rights. But the courts have not gotten the message. Time after time, the courts of the state fail to protect the property rights of Florida land owners. The latest example of that failure arose in a case called P.I.E., LLC v. DeSoto … ...

In his dissent in Murr v. Wisconsin, Justice Thomas opined that “the Court, however, has never purported to ground those precedents in the Constitution as it was originally understood.” and “in my view, it would be desirable for us to take a fresh look at our regulatory takings jurisprudence, to see whether it can be … ...