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Weekly litigation report — December 22, 2018

December 22, 2018 | By JAMES BURLING

PLF asks Supreme Court to hear Alaska permafrost case This week, PLF filed a petition asking the United States Supreme Court to review Tin Cup, LLC v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a case that asks whether the federal government can control land uses on buried frozen permafrost just because the government claims such permafrost is a “navig ...

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PLF files its merits brief in the Knick Supreme Court property case

June 18, 2018 | By J. DAVID BREEMER

In late May, PLF attorneys filed this brief on the merits in the case of Knick v. Township of Scott, Pennsylvania, which is currently before the United States Supreme Court. The Knick case is a property rights dispute arising from a Town’s efforts to force Ms. Rose Mary Knick to allow the public to enter and … ...

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Florida ends Walton County’s unconstitutional land grab

March 26, 2018 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

On Friday, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed House Bill 631, ending Walton County’s attempt to steal free access to the private property of PLF’s clients Edward and Delanie Goodwin and landowners across Walton County. Forty years ago, the Goodwins’ built their beachfront home in Walton County, Florida. Like countless beachfront p ...

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Making bad law for the rich will hurt the rest of us

October 20, 2017 | By JEREMY TALCOTT

Surfrider Foundation has been battling Vinod Khosla in the California courts for several years, trying to force him to allow the public to cross his private property and use his private beach. We’ve written before about the myths and realities of that dispute–of which there are many. In August, a unanimous court of appeal panel … ...

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Secure property rights are the key to conservation

August 04, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Too often, property rights and conservation are treated as if they are in tension. But, in reality, property rights are a proven means to encourage responsible stewardship, resolve conflicts over limited resources, and empower environmentalists to protect resources they value. To achieve these positive environmental ends, however, property rights m ...

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California Supreme Court decision adds redundant delay

March 31, 2017 | By JEFF MCCOY

Yesterday, the California Supreme Court held that the City of Newport Beach must conduct further environmental analysis for a proposed housing development outside the city limits. The property at issue is Banning Ranch, a 400-acre plot of largely undeveloped coastal property in unincorporated Orange County. The proposed development would add much-n ...

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Goodwins’ fight against land grab and First Amendment violations gaining national attention

February 28, 2017 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

This weekend, Forbes carried an excellent story about PLF’s fight on behalf of Edward and Delanie Goodwin. In July, PLF attorneys filed a First Amendment challenge to protect the Goodwins’ right to speak on their own private property. Walton County banned signs on privately owned beaches last year, hoping to allow the public to trespass ...

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NC Supreme Court agrees to review beach access takings case

April 15, 2016 | By J. DAVID BREEMER

Today, the North Carolina Supreme Court agreed to review the case of Nies v. Town of Emerald Isle, a beach property rights dispute pitting a couple’s right to limit access to their beachfront land against a local government’s desire to open it up the land to public and town driving. The case arises from Emerald Isle, a barrier islan ...

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PLF asks High Court to overrule procedural rules barring takings cases

November 12, 2015 | By J. DAVID BREEMER

This week, PLF attorneys filed a Petition for Certiorari asking the Supreme Court to review the case of Arrigoni Enterprises LLC v. Town of Durham,  a ten -year regulatory takings dispute arising from a Connecticut town’s denial of a property owner’s development plans. The Petition specifically urges the Court to take the case fo ...