Articles

This week, Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys filed a Petition for Certiorari asking the United States Supreme Court to review the case of Nies v. Town of Emerald Isle, discussed more here.  The Petition presents the important question of "whether the Takings Clause permits a state to statutorily redefine an entire coastline of privately owned dry ...

May the government allow strangers to recreate on your private, beach-front property for free? That's the question the Indiana Supreme Court is being asked to consider in an important property-rights case. At issue is the common-law "Public Trust Doctrine," according to which a state holds navigable waters and the land beneath "in trust" for public ...

Competitors' Veto Law Repealed! Another "relevant parcel" case headed for the Supreme Court Cap and trade upheld by California court of appeal Just compensation means compensation that is just, not cheap Oral argument in Missouri anti-discrimination case California courts don't like competition WOTUS to remain before SCOTUS Access ...

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that private property shall not be taken "for public use, without just compensation." The just compensation requirement safeguards private property rights by ensuring that the government cannot take property on a whim. But who defines what constitutes "just compensation?" That is the question ...

Today, we received a mixed decision from the Louisiana Supreme Court in the amicus case, South LaFourche Levee District v. Jarreau. As you may recall, Jarreau asked the Louisiana Supreme Court to determine the measure of compensation due for the Levee District's appropriation of land from an excavation and hauling company. The law is a bit complic ...

Today, the United States Supreme Court issued its oral argument calendar for March, 2017. Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) is pleased to note that the Court included PLF's important property rights case, Murr v. State of Wisconsin, on that March calendar. The Court has specifically scheduled the Murr case for argument on March 20, 2017. As previou ...

PLF attorney Dave Breemer and I will be speaking at the upcoming ALI-CLE course, Eminent Domain and Land Valuation in San Diego this upcoming January 26 to 28. In addition to Dave and me, Robert Thomas who helps PLF on cases out of Hawaii is a co-chair of the conference. This course has always been highly rated and is essential to those wising to b ...

One of the most basic protections that the U.S. Constitution provides for property owners is the guarantee that the government cannot take private property without paying just compensation. That mandate is intended not only to ensure that owners are made whole, but also to place a real limit of the government's exercise of eminent domain authority— ...

It's no secret that California courts have been rather adventurous in finding ways around the rule that a permit condition must relate in both size and scope to development impact the condition is designed to mitigate. The nexus and proportionality tests—established by Nollan v. California Coastal Commission (1987) and Dolan v. City of Tigard (1994 ...