When most jurisdictions reacted to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S 469 (2005), they — naturally being aghast at the result — adopted legislation that either purported to make it easier on landowners, or harder on condemnors. Understandable, as the public uproar which Kelo caused has yet to settle down completely even a decade later.
But not Louisiana. Oh no, that state’s legislature apparently decided that Kelo was a good opportunity to make it harder for a property owner to recover compensation. We’re not even going to pretend to understand all that is going on in South Lafourche Levee District v. Jarreau, No. 2016-C-0788 (Mar. 31, 2017), with its differences between “expropriation” and “appropriation,” compensation measured by “full extent of the loss” versus merely “just compensation,” and the like. Louisiana, after all, can be a whole ‘nother brand of law, sometimes.
