Nollan v. California Coastal Commission
Supreme Court affirms property owners’ protections from illegal permitting conditions
In 1982, Marilyn and Patrick Nollan wanted to convert their one-story beach bungalow into a modest two-story home. The house had been the Nollans' part-time beach house, but they loved the serene beach views of the Pacific Ocean so much that they decided to add a second story on the house and make it their permanent family home. ...
Keller v. State Bar of California
Supreme Court affirms attorneys’ First Amendment protection from compelled speech
SCOTUS held that people who are legally obligated to join trade or professional organizations cannot be forced to fund political or ideological activities that have nothing to do with regulating or managing their profession—such as lobbying—through mandatory dues. ...
Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency
Supreme Court limits Clean Water Act abuse in victory for property owners
One of the longest-running legal battles in the history of the Clean Water Act doesn't involve mega-polluters dumping toxic chemicals into America's major rivers and lakes. Rather, it involves a couple who wanted to build a home on less than an acre of land in a residential neighborhood. And now, that case could have ramifications for property owne ...
St. Johns River Water Management District v. Koontz
There’s no “off site” exception to Fifth Amendment’s takings clause
Coy A. Koontz sought to develop commercial land, most of which lies within a riparian habitat protection zone in Orange County, Florida. He applied for a dredge and fill permit with the St. Johns Water Management District, which agreed to grant the permit only on the condition that he place a conservation easement over his land, and perform mitig ...
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes
Landowners win right to challenge wetland determinations in court
Hawkes Company is a family-owned business in Minnesota that harvests peat moss, for landscaping. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers improperly claimed jurisdiction over the property as regulated wetlands. This put Hawkes in the untenable position of (1) abandoning all use of the land at great loss; (2) spending several hundred thousand dollars to see ...
Kent Recycling Services, LLC v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Landowners win right to challenge wetland determinations in court
Kent Recycling Services wanted to establish a solid waste landfill in Louisiana. But an overzealous Corps of Engineers issued a Jurisdictional Determination claiming the property contained wetlands subject to federal regulation under the Clean Water Act. Kent disputed this claim and sued. Lower courts rejected his lawsuit as unripe on the theory th ...
Murr v. Wisconsin
Wisconsin undermines property rights by “merging” separate lots
The Murr family owned two separately deeded lots that were purchased independently by their parents in the 1960s. They built a small cabin on one lot and held the other one as an investment for the future. But when the time came to sell, subsequently enacted regulations forbade the Murrs from making any productive use of the vacant lot – and with ...
Weyerhaeuser/Markle v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Government-sanctioned private land grabs over absent animals are illegal
The U.S. Supreme Court opened its fall term on October 1, 2018, with the famous "frog case" out of Louisiana. That's where federal regulators declared more than 1,500 acres of private land as a critical habitat for the dusky gopher frog—a species not seen in the state for more than 50 years. PLF client Edward Poitevent owns 95 percent of the land ...
Knick v. Township of Scott, Pennsylvania
Supreme Court affirms that property rights are among Americans' most important constitutional rights.
In 2013, government agents forced Rose Knick to allow public access to a suspected gravesite on her farmland. Rose sued over the unconstitutional property taking. But a federal court refused to hear her federal claim citing the 1985 Supreme Court decision Williamson County. Rose has asked the Court to overturn this precedent so property rights are ...