Articles

Oral argument today in important Hawaii property rights case

December 08, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Paul J. Beard II Robert Thomas, Managing Attorney for PLF's Hawaii Center, has an excellent blog post about the oral argument today in a closely watched property rights case out of Hawaii.  The issue concerns property owners' access to the courts:  What does a landowner with a taking claim have to do before ...

Articles

A small miracle in the world of takings law

February 18, 2012 | By JENNIFER THOMPSON

Robert Thomas, managing attorney of PLF’s Hawaii Center in Honolulu recently highlighted an important takings case on his excellent blog, inversecondemnation.com.  The Third Circuit Court of Appeals decided R & J Holding Company v. Redevelopment Authority  in December and found that a property owner did have the right to bring his Fifth ...

Articles

PLF secures important property rights victory in the Fifth Circuit

May 14, 2012 | By JOSHUA THOMPSON

Today, the Fifth Circuit decided Bowlby v. City of Aberdeen.  In this case, Debra Bowlby sought and received a permit to operate a small sno-cone hut in the City of Aberdeen, Mississippi.  Then, a month after the City granted her the permit (and she began operating her business), the City simply revoked her permit.  Ms. … ...

Articles

Horne fails to squeeze the juice out of Williamson County ripeness doctrine

June 11, 2013 | By J. DAVID BREEMER

Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Horne v. Department of Agriculture, a case in which California raisin growers sued the Department of Agriculture in federal district court after the Department fined them for refusing to hand over a portion of their raisins to the federal government without compensation. In the federal court, the & ...

Articles

In a PLF beach case, court crushes the Williamson County removal-ripeness trap

July 25, 2013 | By J. DAVID BREEMER

In North Carolina, Texas, California and other regions, Pacific Legal Foundation has worked diligently to protect the property rights of coastal land owners . We have also fought for many years to ensure that property owners of all sorts have equal access to the federal courts to defend their constitutional rights. Today, the Fourth Circuit … ...

Articles

Another PLF beach win ensures federal protection for property rights

August 27, 2013 | By J. DAVID BREEMER

PLF continues to make headway in its twin goals of protecting property rights on the beach and in opening the federal courthouse doors to property owners seeking to defend their constitutionally protected property rights. The latest example of this reality is a new victory in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in (another) case pitting … ...

Articles

In a new victory, court blasts rules barring court access for property owners

May 16, 2014 | By J. DAVID BREEMER

Today, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a favorable published decision in Sherman v. Town of Chester, a case in which PLF filed an amicus brief.  In the case, a New York Town gave a property owner the run-around on his development plans for a decade, changing the rules every time he presented a plan for formal … ...

Articles

PLF files another brief supporting federal court access for takings plaintiffs

November 18, 2014 | By CHRIS KIESER

Last Friday, PLF and the Cato Institute filed an amicus brief in another attempt to get the Supreme Court to finally overrule Williamson County Regional Planning Commission v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City. Frequent readers of the Liberty Blog will recall that Williamson County requires property owners to bring their Takings Clause claims in state ...

Articles

Victory in Sansotta v. Town of Nags Head

March 27, 2015 | By JENNIFER THOMPSON

We are thrilled to report that former PLF client, Roc Sansotta, has reached a settlement agreement with the Town of Nags Head, North Carolina, to the tune of $1.5 million! Under the agreement, the Town will essentially buy Sansotta’s beachfront property and cottages, and tear them down to make the land part of the public beach. … ...