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Here’s what we’re reading this Friday:

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Horne v. USDA: Way More Than Silly Raisin Jokes
Day 1, 2017 ALI-CLE Eminent Domain And Land Valuation Litigation Conference, San Diego
Notes And Links From Today’s Hawaii Land Use Conference Session

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Continue Reading Friday Round-Up: Murr Arguments, Exactions Cert Petition, Houston “Zoning”

We think we can find a takings angle in nearly anything. See here (net neutrality) here (the Supreme Court’s Obamacare decision), and here (a visit to Los Alamos, NM) for past examples. 

So when reviewing last week’s U.S. District Court (D. Hawaii) order granting a nationwide TRO prohibiting enforcement of President Trump’s executive order on immigration (something, we admit, has nothing to do with our usual topics — we were armoring up for the inevitable cocktail party questions), we came across the court’s reliance on several cases which allowed it to “go behind” the purported purpose of the EO, to get to the “real” reason it was adopted: religious animus. See Order at 32 (citing Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520, 534 (1993); Village of Arlington Heights v. Metro. Hous. Dev. Corp., 429 U.S. 252, 266–68 (1977)).

We knew we had …

Continue Reading The Eminent Domain Angle In The Hawaii Federal Court’s Immigration EO Ruling

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Here’s a case you should be following which involves both public use and just comp issues, now before the Louisiana Supreme Court.

The case is an appeal in an expropriation case from a quick-take of a Mississippi River docking facility downriver from New Orleans. The Port took the entire VDP facility, made no change in how the property was used, and eventually turned over operation of the facility to a “hand-picked” private operator.

In St. Bernard Port, Harbor & Terminal District v. Violet Dock Port, Inc., LLC, No. 2016-CA-0096 (La. Ct. App. Dec. 14, 2016), the Louisiana Court of Appeals, over a strong dissent, rejected the owner’s arguments that the Port could not take the property for economic development, the taking was for private benefit, and the argument that the Port was really taking the property in order to obtain VDP’s contracts with the Navy. The court also…

Continue Reading Eminent Domain Case To Watch: Violet Dock Port (Louisiana S Ct)

Here’s what we’re reading this Monday:

  • Preview of SCOTUS oral arguments in Murr v. Wisconsin. This is the “larger parcel” case which will be heard next Monday, March 20. The Cato Institute is having a session on it at its DC facility, “Rethinking Regulatory Takings.” If you can’t be there in-person, it will be live streamed. More here. We’ll have our own preview later this week. 
  • Our colleagues at the Massachusetts Land Use Monitor comes this report (“Regulatory Taking, Anyone?“) about a recent jury verdict which concluded that denial of a variance resulted in a loss of all beneficial use of property. And you know what that means, don’t you? 
  • Professor Ilya Somin writes about the “Potential pitfalls of building Trump’s Great Wall of eminent domain” in the Washington Post. 
  • Professor Gerald S. Dickinson adds his thoughts on the Wall:

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Continue Reading Monday Links: Murr SCOTUS Preview, Mass. Reg Takings Verdict, Great Wall Of America, Train Takings

Here’s an article, recently published by the Urban Lawyer (the law review produced by our ABA section, the Section of State and Local Government Law), with our take on the most interesting and important eminent domain and takings rulings from the past year. 

Many of the cases discussed will be familiar to regular readers, but here it is in one place, and in print. 

Recent Developments in Eminent Domain, 48 Urb. Lawyer 939 (2016)

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Continue Reading New Article: Recent Developments In Eminent Domain

When we previewed the 2017 ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference while we were getting buried in the snow a couple of weeks ago, we promised there would be better weather in San Diego than much of the country was then experiencing. As you can see, we delivered.

We — and by “we” I mean the faculty, the ALI-CLE staff, and the record number of attendees who came to San Diego — also delivered on a really great conference. See our posts on several of the presentations here, here, here, and here for a flavor.

We also announced that the date and location for the 2018 Conference has been set, and the hotel and site have been booked:

2018 ALI-CLE
Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference
Francis Marion Hotel
Charleston, South Carolina
January 25-27, 2018

Stay tuned for details. Send your ideas for…

Continue Reading 2017 ALI-CLE Eminent Domain Conference Wrap, 2018 Venue Announcement

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Our final day was anchored, as usual, by Pacific Legal Foundation’s Jim Burling, and property rights guru and advocate Michael Berger. Jim was his usual riveting self, and Michael supplied the insight to cases which only he can.

In case you are wondering, the above is the view from the dais, and no, I didn’t bring a Spam calendar with me, it was a gift from a thoughtful New Jersey colleague who knows that Hawaii people love Spam. I will reserve comment on whether I love Spam, and simply say thank you for the calendar. 

We finished the day strong with the National Forum, where audience members took the mic and shared their cases, issues, and results with the rest of us. 

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Continue Reading Links & Materials From Day 3 Of ALI-CLE Eminent Domain And Land Valuation Litigation Conference, San Diego

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Here are the links and references to the cases we spoke about today at our opening session on the national trends in eminent domain law at the 2017 ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conference in San Diego. 

We again have a record attendance, and a good number of new attendees. If you aren’t here now, we’re sorry you didn’t make it. But fear not: ALI-CLE has already set the date and location for the 2018 Conference: save the date on your calendars now — January 25-27, 2018, Charleston, South Carolina, at the Francis Marion Hotel. 

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Continue Reading Day 1, 2017 ALI-CLE Eminent Domain And Land Valuation Litigation Conference, San Diego

HSBA 2017 Land Use Conference

To supplement your written materials for the 2017 Hawaii Land Use Conference, here are the decisions and other materials which we spoke about this morning at the 2017 Hawaii Land Use Conference:  

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Continue Reading Notes And Links From Today’s Hawaii Land Use Conference Session On Reg Takings

LittlePinkHouse

“Little Pink House,” the movie based on Jeff Benedict’s 2009 book, Little Pink House: A True Story of Defiance and Courage, about the backstory to Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005), will soon be in theaters. 

We know about the legal issues the case presented, but the book and the film center more around the human story. About this time last year, we spoke to Ted Balaker, one of the film’s producers, who gave us an inside look at the film (which was still being edited). Ever since, we’ve been eagerly anticipating the feature, which has some familiar faces in key roles. The film stars Catherine Keener (Capote) as Susette Kelo and Jeanne Tripplehorn (The Firm, Basic Instinct) as the head of the New London Redevelopment agency.

The movie will have its world premiere at the…

Continue Reading Little Pink House Movie Premiering