Articles

By any measure, Hurricane Katrina was a disastrous natural catastrophe. But for many landowners in St. Bernard Parish, what might have been a damaging but survivable storm was transformed into total devastation by a series of government actions and omissions stretching back decades. Last week, we filed this amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to ...

Yesterday, PLF filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to review a decision that diminishes property rights by throwing unnecessary obstacles to raising Fifth Amendment claims. The story behind this case began many years ago, when Simone and Lyder Johnson set out to build their dream home, along with some other possible residential development, ...

We've written extensively about negative developments in California eminent domain use over the years, but today we filed this comment letter with the California Senate Judiciary Committee in support of a positive reform attempt, SB 1167. SB 1167 would require governments to issue a final offer of compensation whenever they initiate condemnati ...

Uri Rafaeli's small business—Rafaeli, LLC—lost a valuable Southfield, Michigan home to pay an $8 debt to Oakland County.  Andre Ohanessian lost 2.7 acres of valuable land in Orchard Village to pay a $6,000 debt.  Michigan's property tax law allowed Oakland County to sell the properties, collect the debts owed, and then pocket tens of thousand ...

Rose Mary Knick owns a quiet, 90-acre, stone-fenced farm in rural eastern Pennsylvania. The parcel is bounded on all sides by old stone walls and no trespassing signs at various intervals. According to the local government, it also contains an ancient burial ground of some sort. But this Halloween, Ms. Knick—who lives alone—is haunted far more ...

Can the executive branch be the judicial branch? When is "just compensation" unjust? Meet the new boss, same as the old boss? Seattle residents challenge the City's arbitrary and unconstitutional tax on achievement The twilight of California's tax-revolt? PLF asks the Supreme Court to bet on the Constitution Argument held to release ...

In a brief filed earlier today, PLF attorneys urge the U.S. Supreme Court to answer this important question concerning the Fifth Amendment's guarantee that property shall not be taken without payment of just compensation. In the past, the U.S. Supreme Court instructed that a dispossessed owner must be put in "as good position pecuniarily as he wou ...

caption id="attachment_46396" align="alignright" width="300" The Coachella Valley, a sere and torrid land (photo by Tim Shell)/caption That is the question being asked of the United States Supreme Court in two cert petitions filed last month, Desert Water Authority & Coachella Valley Water District v. Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. ...

For an example of how impossible it can be for property owners to ripen (i.e., get a court to hear) a takings claim, look no further than the decision today in GolfRock, LLC v. Lee County.  Even when the government regulates away the use of your land, it can sometimes be very difficult to get courts to hear your claim for just compensation under ...