Articles

Property rights & the Roberts Court

September 29, 2015 | By BRIAN HODGES

In an article published today by Engage, PLF attorneys Brian T. Hodges and Christopher M. Kieser consider the U.S. Supreme Court's most recent property rights case, Horne v. United States Department of Agriculture, in the context of the Roberts Court's property rights jurisprudence. Spoiler alert: the Court's track record is better than you'd thin ...

Articles

Will the Supreme Court's second Horne decision undermine Williamson County ripeness?

April 29, 2015 | By CHRIS KIESER

One issue that has received little attention following the oral argument in Horne v. United States Department of Agriculture is the question of what the Hornes' remedy should be if they prevail. Readers will recall that the Supreme Court last Wednesday considered a depression-era law requiring raisin farmers, like plaintiffs Marvin and Laura Horne, ...

Articles

Supreme Court hears argument in raisin takings case

April 23, 2015 | By CHRIS KIESER

The Supreme Court yesterday heard oral argument in the "raisin takings case," Horne v. United States Department of Agriculture. As we have previously explained, the Department of Agriculture brought an enforcement action against California raisin farmers Marvin and Laura Horne when they refused to transfer a significant portion of their raisins to ...

Articles

U.S. Supreme Court grants cert in Horne v. U.S.D.A. aka The Raisin Takings Case

January 16, 2015 | By JENNIFER THOMPSON

Good news. The Supreme Court announced today it will hear Horne v. U.S.D.A., a case challenging the Department of Agriculture's arcane requirement that California raisin farmers turn over a portion of their crop to the government, every year, as a prerequisite to selling the rest of their crop. The Ninth Circuit held there was nothing wrong with th ...

Articles

Heard through the grapevine : Ninth Circuit holds Koontz allows government price controls

May 12, 2014 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Last week, the Ninth Circuit decided the remand of Horne v. USDA, the raisin case that the Supreme Court overturned last term. The case previously drew attention for what it had to say about Williamson County -- the case that keeps essentially all takings cases from federal court. The most recent round in this litigation addresses how Koontz appli ...