Articles

PLF's Timothy Sandefur talks with Armstrong & Getty about eminent domain

August 13, 2012 | By TIMOTHY SANDEFUR

I’ll be talking with Armstrong & Getty at 8 this morning about the efforts by California local governments to use eminent domain to seize “underwater” mortgages. You can listen online here. Update: You can listen to the podcast recording here. … ...

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California legislature sending help to farmers . . . by taking their property rights

April 12, 2013 | By TONY FRANCOIS

California Assembly Bill 823 will be heard next Monday in the state Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee.  Since the bill will impose unconstitutional exactions on many if not all farmland development projects in California, PLF sent this letter to the author and committee this week.  PLF does not take positions on pending legislation, bu ...

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President's weekly update — June 21, 2013

June 21, 2013 | By ROB RIVETT

Individual Rights — Equality Under the Law Project The Supreme Court granted cert this week in the long-anticipated Township of Mount Holly v. Mount Holly Gardens Citizens in Action. We filed this amicus brief in favor of the petition (but not in favor of either party for reasons explained below.) As our blog post notes, … ...

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President's report — December 20, 2013

December 20, 2013 | By ROB RIVETT

Obamacare — Origination Clause Challenge We filed this reply brief in Sissel v. Sibelius, our challenge to Obamacare based on the failure of the revenue-raising measure to originate in the House of Representatives, as required by the Constitution’s Origination Clause.  The case will move to oral argument sometime in 2014. Property R ...

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The specter of eminent domain strikes again

January 09, 2014 | By JENNIFER THOMPSON

As my colleague, Principal Attorney Timothy Sandefur wrote earlier this week, various groups and politicians within California are pushing to give government more generous (read evil) eminent domain powers.  And lest you think this issue is merely a matter of esoteric legal debate, here’s yet another vexing example of a city abusing what ...

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The blight of redevelopment

January 22, 2014 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

Last week, PLF filed an amicus curiae letter in the California Supreme Court, asking it to grant the Community Youth Athletic Center’s (CYAC) petition for review of an abusive scheme to transfer its private property to a developer for its private business venture.  Shocking as it may seem, similar transfers happens across the country and &# ...

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Should a city be able to use legislative tricks to acquire land cheaply?

April 11, 2014 | By JONATHAN WILLIAMS

The Constitution requires the government to pay just compensation when it seizes private property for public use. However, if the City of Perris has its way, cities will be allowed to pay less than fair market value for private property they seize merely by amending their general plans. The California Supreme Court is set to … ...

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City responds to PLF’s CA Supreme Court amicus brief in City of Perris v. Stamper

June 04, 2014 | By JONATHAN WILLIAMS

Recently we received a response to our amicus brief, filed in City of Perris v. Stamper, a case pending before the California Supreme Court. The National Federal of Independent Business joined us on the brief, which argued that cities can’t avoid paying fair market value for private property seized through creative general plan amendments. W ...

Articles

PLF asks Louisiana Supreme Court to curtail eminent domain abuse

March 16, 2017 | By BRIAN HODGES

Eminent domain—the sovereign’s authority to take private property without the owner’s consent—is a terrible and awesome power, which is why the nation’s founders placed two key restrictions on its exercise: that government shall not take property unless it is for a valid public use and just compensation is paid. Those restrict ...