Cert Denied (Again) In Quick-Take-By-Injunction Pipeline Case
One should never be surprised, we suppose, when the Supreme Court denies a cert petition due to the daunting statistics, but we really thought that maybe the third time was a charm for the quick-take-by-preliminary-injunction issue, and that the Givens petition had a real chance. The petition was strong, the issue (in our opinion) was compelling: can private pipeline companies obtain immediate precondemnation possession of land and start construction of a pipeline even though the Natural Gas Act delegates to them only the straight-takings power?
Alas no, the Court today issued an Order declining to review the case (and gazillions of others). The circuit split is the Seventh vs everyone else, but apparently the Supreme Court is more interested in ensuring the circuits are consistent than it is about separation of powers issues, and making sure that the “despotic power” is wielded carefully, especially when it is private for-profit
Continue Reading Cert Denied (Again) In Quick-Take-By-Injunction Pipeline Case
2019 Brigham-Kanner Conference: The New New Property – Public Resources And Private Rights
Here is a transcript of the remarks I delivered today at the 2019 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference. I was honored to join lawprof Henry Smith and Florida Supreme Court Justice (ret.) Ken Bell (who authored the Florida court’s opinion in Stop the Beach Renourishment which was challenged in SCOTUS as a “judicial taking”) to speak about “Public Resources and Private Rights” (moderated by Professor Katherine Mims Crocker). After paying our respects to 2019 B-K Prize winner Professor Steven Eagle, we each addressed some part of the question.
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The New New Property
As always, I bring to you tidings of “aloha” from the state where the legislature thought it was a going to reduce the price of residential housing by taking fee simple interests from “A” and giving them to “B,” the leaseholders.
Where now, the median price for a single-family, two bedroom, one bath
Here’s The Agenda And Faculty For The 2020 ALI-CLE Eminent Domain And Land Valuation Litigation Conference, Nashville, Jan 23-25, 2020
You overwhelmingly asked for Nashville, and we’re bringing it to you!
Get ready, and hold your place now: here’s the list of programs and speakers for the 36th Annual ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conference, to be held at the Downtown Nashville Hilton, January 23,- 25, 2020. Two-and-a-half days with top-notch national faculty (lawyers from both sides, judges, legal scholars, appraisers, relocation experts, and others).
Early registration and group rates are available now.
Here are just some of the programs:
- Featured Presentation: Property Rights as Civil Rights: Seeking Justice Though the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. Hon. Jonathan Apgar, Jamila Johnson, Alan Ackerman. Moderator: Leslie Fields.
- Making Sense of the New Rules After Knick v. Township of Scott: Where Do I Go, What Do I Do? David Breemer, Smitha Chintamaneni, Professor Bethany Berger. Moderator: Professor Steven Eagle.
- When A River Runs Thought It: Water Rights and
Get Ready: The 2020 ALI-CLE Eminent Domain And Land Valuation Litigation Conference Agenda Coming Soon
The final agenda and faculty list will soon be officially published, but we wanted to give you a preview of what is in store at the ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conference, January 23-25, 2020, at the Nashville Hilton (downtown, just a few steps away from everything that Nashville has to offer).
Don’t miss out: in recent years, we’ve been at-or-near capacity, and the conference hotel has even sold out a couple of times. Visit the ALI-CLE website to register and hold your space.
Here are some of the things we’ll be discussing:
- Making Sense of the New Rules After Knick v. Township of Scott: Where Do I Go, What Do I Do?
- The Missing Link in Valuing Fixtures
- When a River Runs Through it: Water Rights and Takings
- Responding to Project Changes: Valuation When Government Action is Ongoing
- Property Rights as Civil Rights: Seeking Justice Through
Hic Sunt Dracones – New Cert Petition Argues Penn Central Results In “Inconsistent,” “Unprincipled,” “Amorphous,” “Illegitimate” Decisions
You know where this is.
Here’s the cert petition filed recently in a case we’ve been tracking. (See also this guest post by economist Bill Wade about that case.)
As the above photo tells you, this one is going into what may the last truly unexplored frontier of regulatory takings law, the details of the ad hoc Penn Central test, the “default” test in most situations where the regulation does not wipe out all economically beneficial use (Lucas), doesn’t physically invade the property (Loretto, Kaiser Aetna), or doesn’t render useless a fundamental attribute of property (Webb’s Fabulous Pharmacies).
In all but those situations, the Court has told us to apply the multifactor three-part (or as Professor Steve Eagle argues, the four-part) test from Penn Central. But only in a few cases have property owners successfully navigated that minefield to
Tuesday Takings Round-Up: Alien Takings; Zombies; Kelo, Philippines-Style; Kafka
Here’s what we are reading this Tuesday:
- Could Eminent Domain Be The Zombie Mall Slayer? (Barista’s note: any time we see use of the eminent domain power bandied about as the solution to problems other than the lack of roads and post offices, we get nervous.)
- RTC: Eminent domain can be delegated to private entities – Kelo isn’t just a U.S. thing. A story from the Republic of the Philippines.
- How the Storm Area 51 phenomenon could be an alien benefit to family that once owned the land – we’re not saying it was aliens…but it was aliens. A story of the “Area 51” taking, where the owners are represented by our colleague Autumn Waters.
- Georgia colleagues Christian Torgrimson and Daniel Peterson write about Knick: The Eminent Domain Consequences of a U.S. Supreme Court Ruling.
- From the “be careful what you sue for” department: Maui County’s appeal
Continue Reading Tuesday Takings Round-Up: Alien Takings; Zombies; Kelo, Philippines-Style; Kafka
Law 608: Eminent Domain And Property Rights – Season 2
We’re about to get underway with the fall semester at William and Mary Law School, where we’re again teaching an upper-division course, Eminent Domain and Property Rights.
We’ve more than doubled the size of last year’s enrollment, so it looks like the word is getting out. We cover not only eminent domain and just compensation, but takings (yes, we have a lot of new materials to cover there), civil forfeiture, a small bit of crossover with land use, local government, and related, property rights as civil rights, how property law is discussed in the public sphere, due process, and how to lawyer up these cases. And in early October, the opportunity to have some of the nation’s best property law scholars “guest lecture” during the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference. Here’s the official description:
Property rights and the sovereign’s power of eminent domain have been essential components of
Continue Reading Law 608: Eminent Domain And Property Rights – Season 2
Anthony Palazzolo Drives His Property
Check this out. What at first appears to be something along the lines of the grainy Zapruder film (this particular piece was recorded on video, not film, and certainly well before the days of high-res camera phones that we now take for granted) is an important piece of takings history.
It is (the late) Anthony Palazzolo driving his famous “wetlands” property, recorded after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in his favor in Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, 533 U.S. 606 (2001).
Dwight Merriam, who graciously provided the raw footage, became Tony Palazzolo’s friend after interviewing him for an article Dwight was writing on the Supreme Court decision, and they frequently met, dined together, and conversed as Palazzolo’s matter continued on remand. Dwight recorded this video from the back seat of Palazzolo’s car. In the front is John Boehnert of Providence, another longtime friend of Dwight’s and a
New Land Use Law Blog To Follow: Merriam’s Corner (“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Land Use”)
Land users and dirt lawyers know Dwight Merriam. (And if you don’t, you are not really a land user, are you?)
He’s won landmark cases (has even beaten Yours Truly in one of those cases way back in the day). Written tons of articles and books. Edits Rathkopf. Contributes to Nichols. Mentored multiple generations of land use lawyers (me included). All while serving his country in the U.S. Navy.
Here’s your chance to tap directly into the source. Dwight has (finally) started a blog, Merriam’s Corner, about the topics we all love.
So sign up and follow. Listen in as Dwight thinks out loud for our benefit.
Welcome to the blog world, Mr. Merriam. Continue Reading New Land Use Law Blog To Follow: Merriam’s Corner (“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Land Use”)