Articles

Monday October 3, 2022: The first spectator arrived at midnight. He brought a sleeping bag and an umbrella, then waited outside the Supreme Court all night while it drizzled on and off. Other spectators arrived between 2 and 6 a.m. By the time I arrived at the Supreme Court around 9:00 a.m., there was a … ...

On the morning of October 3, 2022, I argued Sackett v. EPA II at the Supreme Court. It was the opening case of the Court’s new term.   An element of theater  I’ve argued at the Supreme Court only one other time previously—a decade ago, in this same case (Sackett v. EPA I). But even attorneys … ...

Nearly 15 years ago, the efforts of Chantell and Mike Sackett to build their family home in a residential neighborhood of Priest Lake, Idaho, were put on indefinite hold. That is because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) demanded, on pain of immense monetary penalties, that the Sacketts first obtain a time-consuming and costly Clean Water ...

Recently, the Biden administration announced plans to cancel various regulatory reforms the Department of Interior had implemented under President Trump to modernize the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Upon reading the news, the phrase, “Here we go again” comes to mind. With every change in presidential administrations, it now seems, we j ...

On March 22, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear arguments in a case that will either strengthen or erode Americans’ property rights threatened by (oftentimes partisan) politics. In Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, the High Court will decide whether the government may give permission to select private groups to violate other people ...

A fundamental aspect of private property is that the owner can choose whom to let onto the property and whom to exclude as a trespasser. Next Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case concerning the intersection of this right with a longstanding California agricultural labor regulation. In 1975, the California Legislature enacted the … ...

Anyone lucky enough to sail off the coast of California or take a sightseeing boat out until the land disappears into a canvas of blue will tell you about the beauty of the ocean. Our oceans—especially off the California coast—contain some of the most beautiful sights and amazing marine life you can imagine. Not surprisingly, … ...

Late last month, the California legislature passed and Governor Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 3088. Among other things, the new statute imposes several limitations on the right of landlords to evict tenants. Touted by its supporters as a reasonable compromise measure, AB 3088 does not impose as many burdens on landlords as some local … ...

This article was originally published by The Daily Journal on April 10, 2019. It is coauthored by Paul Beard who is an environmental and land-use attorney who co-leads Alston & Bird’s Environmental Appellate Litigation Team and its Coastal Land Use Team. Should government agencies have the power to issue multi-million-dollar fines again ...