July 2013

Here’s the amicus brief filed today by Pacific Legal Foundation in Mehaffy v. United States, No. 12-1416 (cert. petition filed June 5, 2013).

That’s the case in which the Supreme Court is being asked to review to review the Federal Circuit’s unpublished opinion in which the court affirmed the Court of Federal Claims’ grant of summary judgment to the government, holding that Mehaffy failed the Penn Central test solely because he purchased the property alleged to have been taken after the governmentt adopted the Clean Water Act.

PLF has posted a more in-depth summary of the case and the arguments in its brief here.

The cert petition is posted here, and another amici brief urging the Court to grant the writ is posted here.

Brief Amicus Curiae of Pacific Legal Foundation in Support of Petitioner, Mehaffy v. United States, No. 12-…


Continue Reading One More Amicus Brief In “Investment-Backed Expectations” Case: Can’t Regulate Away Right To Compensation

Generally, we don’t plug seminars that might compete with our own, but in this case, we made an exception because the faculty for this one consists of three people we could just not go without hearing from.

On Thursday, July 11, 2013, Law Seminars International is sponsoring “Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District – Implications for Property Owners and Local Government,” featuring our Owners’ Counsel of America colleagues Michael Berger and Amy Brigham Boulris, and our favorite foil, lawprof John Echeverria, as they “assess the implications of this important decision and provide practical guidance for both defending and pursuing regulatory takings claims.”

Here’s what we suggest: participate in their program on July 11, then tune into ours (which features both Koontz and Horne) the following day. Continue Reading Koontz Teleconference – July 11, 2013

Here’s some of the stories and commentary we’ve been reading about the Supreme Court’s decision in Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, No. 11-1147 (June 25, 2013:

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Continue Reading Koontz Round-Up

Do regulations that exist at the time that a property owner purchases his land negate any expectation that he will be able to use the land productively? Not according to this amici brief, filed today in Mehaffy v. United States, No. 12-1416 (cert. petititon filed June 5, 2013).

The cert petition asks the Supreme Court to review the Federal Circuit’s unpublished opinion in which the court affirmed the Court of Federal Claims’ grant of summary judgment to the government, holding that Mehaffy failed the Penn Central test solely because he purchased the property alleged to have been taken after the governmentt adopted the Clean Water Act.

The amici brief, filed by the National Federationof Independent Business Small Business Legal Center, the Cato Institute, and the Chapman Center for Constitutional Jurisprdence poses the Question Presented this way:

In Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, 533 U.S. 606 (2001), this Court…

Continue Reading Amicus Brief In “Investment-Backed Expectations” Case: Are Most Takings Claims Snuffed Out At Transfer Of Title?