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42 U.S.C. § 1983 | Civil Rights

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ALI-CLE brochure cover page

Here’s the brochure and the full agenda and registration information for the upcoming ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conference at the JW Marriott in New Orleans, February 1-3, 2024.

This is the long-running nationally-focused conference on all things eminent domain, takings, valuation, and related. We have three tracks, from which you can choose a la carte – Practice, Substantive, and Condemnation 101:

For over 40 years, we’ve been bringing eminent domain practitioners together to examine the latest issues, engage in healthy debate, and get the information they need to stay current in their practice. This year – our 41st – is THE perfect time to reunite with your eminent domain colleagues. There will be plentiful opportunities to meet and mingle with the faculty and other registrants – throughout the conference and at evening social events. Attendees come back year after year to make new friendships and renew…

Continue Reading Here’s The Program For The 41st ALI-CLE Eminent Domain And Land Valuation Litigation Conference, Feb 1-3, 2024, New Orleans

Here’s a takings cert petition, filed yesterday.

Because this is one of ours, we’re not going to comment much beyond reposting the Question Presented, and to let you know this one is about how the “relatively modest” requirement that the government have taken some “definitive position” about what uses are allowed and what uses are not on a claimant’s property — as the Court noted in Pakdel, a “de facto” decision is enough. Yes, prudential ripeness.

Question Presented:

Matthew Haney sought to build a home on a small undeveloped island in Popponesset Bay, Massachusetts, zoned by the Town of Mashpee exclusively for single-family residential use. But building a home requires a variance from the Town’s setback and frontage requirements. Haney twice sought this variance, and twice the Town rejected his requests. The Town’s unqualified position that Haney could not obtain the necessary variance to build his home satisfies the…

Continue Reading New Takings Ripeness Cert Petition (Ours): One Variance, Two Variance, Three Variance…More?

HSBA 10-2023

Yesterday, during the Annual Meeting of the Hawaii State Bar Association, we participated in a program sponsored by the Real Property and Financial Services Section, “Inverse Condemnation & Paying for Disasters.”

As you can see above, we joined lawprofs Shelley Saxer and David Callies to share thoughts about inverse claims, and the difference between these property arguments and tort negligence claims.

Here are some of the key cases and materials which we mentioned (or should have):

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Continue Reading Links And Materials From “Inverse Condemnation & Paying for Disasters”

If you happen to be in the Hampton Roads neighborhood later this week, you may want to consider paying a visit to Hampton University for what looks like an intriguing program:

Exclusive Event: ‘Erasing the Black Spot’ – Oct. 19

 
The Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO and ProPublica Present “Erasing the Black Spot” – How Virginia Universities have Disrupted Black Neighborhoods

October 19, 6 p.m.
Robert P. Scripps Auditorium
Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications, Hampton University
200 William R. Harvey Way
Hampton, VA 23669
Register to attend

Virginia’s public universities have a long history of expanding campuses in the name of progress and economic growth. But often, these expansions used eminent domain and property seizures to disrupt and diminish thriving Black communities across the state.

An investigative series by The Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO and ProPublica uncovers the damaging social and economic

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Continue Reading Wed Oct 19 6pm ET – “‘Erasing the Black Spot’ – How Virginia Universities Have Disrupted Black Neighborhoods” (Hampton University)

Here’s the latest in a case and an issue we’ve been following.

Recall that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas concluded that the City of McKinney, Texas was liable for the taking of Vicki Baker’s home, after city police officers destroyed a large part of it while apprehending a suspect who had taken refuge therein. The court awarded just compensation and the city appealed.

Now, the other shoe drops: in Baker v. City of McKinney, No. 22-40644 (Oct. 11, 2023), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed, concluding that because the invasion was necessary and a justified use of the city’s police powers, it does not owe compensation.

We’ve been down this path before, so we won’t go over it in detail (recall that the Tenth Circuit reached the same conclusion and the subsequent cert petition was denied by the Supreme…

Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Kicks Down The SWAT Takings Door (And Boots The Issue Upstairs)

Here’s what we’re reading about the Supreme Court’s property rights docket — some good, some disappointing — this day.

  • Niina Farah, “Supreme Court flooding case could ripple across the energy sector“ (E & E News / Energywire) – About the Devillier case (which we summarized here), in which we were quoted: “The Supreme Court decision to hear the Devillier case comes after a concerted effort in recent years to convince the court to address procedural maneuvers that have made it challenging for property owners to bring their claims to court, said Robert Thomas, director of property rights litigation at the Pacific Legal Foundation. The nonprofit is among the groups that has asked the court to address takings cases and has lent its support for the property owners in Devillier in a ‘friend of the court‘ brief. ‘There’s a lot of gamesmanship going on

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Continue Reading Supreme Court Property Rights Round-Up

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“I’ll take ‘Words I Like to See’ for $800, Alex.“

In this Order, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear two important property rights cases (are there any other kind?). Both are cases we’ve been following — and indeed are now playing a part in.

The first is Devillier v. Texas (the second is Sheetz v. El Dorado County which we’ve posted about here).

After what can only be described as a weird Fifth Circuit panel opinion, followed by an even more unusual post-cert petition en banc denial (complete with concurrals and dissentals), the Supreme Court granted the cert petition.

The Question Presented:

In First English Evangelical Lutheran Church v. County of Los Angeles, this Court recognized that the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause was “self-executing” and that “[s]tatutory recognition was not necessary” for claims for just compensation because they “are grounded in…

Continue Reading Cert Granted #1 – You Don’t Need The Government’s Permission To Obtain Just Compensation, Do You?

This is one of ours — argued by our Pacific Legal Foundation colleague Kady Valois — so we won’t be offering any commentary.

But we just have to post the U.S. Court of Appeals’ opinion in Iten v. County of Los Angeles, No. 22-55480 (Aug. 30, 2023), because it discusses two significant issues, and sets out a roadmap for how to successfully plead a Contracts Clause claim.

First, standing. The court held that a commercial property owner — a retired auto mechanic who leased his premises to an auto repair shop — has Article III standing to challenge the County’s commercial eviction moratorium which prevented the owner from evicting the tenant when it stopped paying rent but did not vacate. The court distinguished the standing requirement of “demonstrating injury in fact” from the question of whether the plaintiff has actually been injured. The first is a pleading requirement and…

Continue Reading CA9: Property Owner Has Standing To Challenge Commercial Eviction Moratorium Under Contracts Clause

Screenshot 2023-08-26 at 10-33-05 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference

Heads-up: the registration page for the 20th Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference, October 26-27, 2023, at the William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia, is now up.

Early registration is a good thing because space is limited, especially at the Wren Building banquet on the 26th, at which the 2023 B-K Property Rights Prize will be presented to Prof. Gregory Alexander.

So please don’t miss out.

2022 BK plaque
The Property Rights Hall of Fame (second plaque)

If you are not already familiar with the Conference, it is (in our opinion) the best one-day event on property and property rights theory and practice. Expressly designed to bring together the legal academy and the practicing dirt law bar, the conference is where we discuss the burning property and property rights issues of the day. Here’s the 2023 Program:

  • Property and Propriety (or a Well-Ordered Society): A Tribute to Gregory S.

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Continue Reading Register Now For The 20th Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference, Oct. 26-27, 2023

Untitled Extract Pages

Two years ago, Owners’ Counsel of America endowed a scholarship in the name of its founder, property rights advocate and trial lawyer Toby Prince Brigham (1934-2021). The scholarship is for a second- or third- year law student to attend the annual three-day ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conference (the upcoming Conference will be in New Orleans, Louisiana, February 1-3, 2024).

The Conference affords the Scholar an all-expenses-covered opportunity to meet and network with leading property rights and eminent domain lawyers from across the country, while also learning about property law and practice. 

Here’s the official description from OCA:  

In honor of Toby’s legacy of professionalism and achievement, in 2021 OCA established the Toby Prince Brigham OCA Scholarship to pay for all expenses of a second or third year law student to attend the ALI-CLE Eminent Domain conference and associated OCA events held annually in January. This unique…

Continue Reading Owners’ Counsel Toby Prince Brigham Scholarship – Applications Being Accepted