Articles

It can be hard to find much on which Americans across ideologies agree these days, but here’s one: When you owe the government an inch, it shouldn’t take a mile. On that proposition, all nine members of the Supreme Court concurred on May 25, ruling in Tyler v. Hennepin County, that the Fifth Amendment prohibition … ...

Last year, a Community Housing Study revealed a troubling housing problem for Johnson County: rents are rising faster than income, and the supply of homes cannot keep up with demand. In response, the Board of County Commissioners appointed Megan Foreman as Housing Coordinator, a brand-new position created to address the county’s housing probl ...

In August 2021, the Malibu City Council refused to let a family build an addition to their home for their 80 plus year old, disabled grandmother. Councilmembers claimed they understood the importance of her situation and wanted to help, but—gosh-darn-it—their hands were tied by the law, which simply wouldn’t allow them to grant the permit ...

For half a century, the Andrews family has owned a little over 16 acres of land in Mentor, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland. Recent developments have transformed the neighborhood from a rural residential area into a lively mixed-use community with residential, office, commercial, industrial, medical, and other uses. An old, dilapidated family home u ...

“California faces a severe housing crisis.” That’s what the state legislature said in 2016. As part of a slew of legislative reforms intended to address the crisis, the state passed new laws designed to simplify and expedite the process for building a particular type of housing, one that is an “essential component of Califor ...

California is in the midst of a severe housing shortage. With options limited and prices skyrocketing, the legislature in 2019 passed a slew of reforms making it easier for homeowners to build accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, on their properties. ADUs are small homes located on the same lot as an existing single- or multi-family … ...

Before the last few weeks, many Americans had probably never heard of “qualified immunity.” But as a result of the nationwide protests against abusive policing, this esoteric legal doctrine is now widely understood as a significant impediment to the sound enforcement of constitutional law. The call to “End Qualified Immunity!̶ ...

The Prince of Motown himself, Marvin Gaye, sang that “Life’s a Game of Give and Take.” But for county treasuries across the state of Michigan, it’s more like a game of take, and take, and take some more. The Perez family is fighting Michigan’s predatory home equity theft policy, which allows counties to take property ...

Many American communities are suffering from a housing shortage. Affordable housing is disappearing, new homes aren’t being built quickly enough, and the racial disparities in housing availability are widening. In Michigan alone, the numbers are stark: a recent report on housing needs by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA ...