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The State of Hawaii has filed a brief responding to the amicus brief we filed in June in In re Trustees Under the Will of the Estate of James Campbell, No. 30006, an appeal now under review by the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals. The issues in the case include the nature of “Torrens” title and the scope of the “public trust” in water resources.

Hawaii is one of the few remaining states retaining its Torrens system of title registration (two others are Massachusetts and Minnesota). We call it “Land Court,” a system in which the State guarantees indefeasible title to the rights and interests reflected in the title register. In Campbell, the State of Hawaii claims that title to property on Oahu’s north shore which was registered and confirmed to the Campbell Estate by the Land Court in 1938, is subject to the State’s ownership of “all…

Continue Reading Final Brief In Torrens Title And Public Trust Appeal

Here are items we’re reading today, in no particular order:

  • Bill Ward’s thoughts on Klumpp v. City of Avalon, the recent New Jersey Supreme Court case about inverse condemnation and beach restoration. Our take here.

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Continue Reading Wednesday Potpourri: Inverse Condemnation And Beaches, Rail Takings, And More “Adult-Oriented” Land Use

Today, we bring you guest commentary on Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep’t of Environmental Protection, No. 08-1151 (June 17, 2010), last week’s Supreme Court decision on judicial takings and ownership of replenished beaches. 

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Beach Decision Draws No New Line in Sand

But high court launches debate about topic of judicial takings

By DWIGHT MERRIAM

On June 17, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Stop the Beach Renourishment, its first property rights case since Kelo, Lingle and San Remo five years ago. The pundits pounced. Even the New York Times jumped on the dog pile with an editorial decrying Scalia’s promotion of judicial takings as “harebrained.”

The reaction is mostly overblown. This is a case the Court should not have taken. The Florida Supreme Court correctly decided the takings claim with a well-reasoned, rational analysis consistent with Florida precedent.

Coastal property…

Continue Reading Guest Post: Beach Decision Draws No New Line In Sand

The New Jersey Supreme Court today issued a unanimous opinion in Klumpp v. Borough of Avalon, No. A-49-09 (Jun. 22, 2010), the case the New Jersey Law Journal described as the “bizarre condemnation” after the Appellate Division held that the government can assert inverse condemnation in order to take property without compensation. 

It’s a detailed opinion, and we will post more details after we’ve had a chance to digest it, but here’s the bottom line:

  • The Borough placed a dune on the plaintiffs’ property in 1965, fenced it off to limit public access, and constructed an access path from the street to the beach over the property. A physical taking occurred no later than that date.
  • If the government takes property without undertaking eminent domain, the property owner can bring an inverse condemnation action. The statute of limitations for such claims is six years.
  • However, equity

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Continue Reading NJ Supreme Court And The “Bizarre Condemnation” – Klumpp v. Borough of Avalon

In its Thursday editorial, Common Sense and Private Property, the New York Times barely conceals its derision for both the property owners who instituted takings claims in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep’t of Environmental Protection, No. 08-1151, and the four-Justice plurality who set forth the standards for judicial takings, but who couldn’t convince a fifth that this was the right case in which to adopt those standards:

Not a single Supreme Court justice agreed with the harebrained notion that some Florida property owners were entitled to the extra land created when the state widened the beach in front of their houses. But in an opinion issued Thursday, four justices came very close to creating an equally harebrained precedent: that a court decision about the application of a state’s property laws can amount to a “taking” of private property, as if a city or state had…

Continue Reading NY Times On Stop The Beach Renourishment: Justice Thurgood Marshall Had “Harebrained” Ideas

Here’s a round up of the latest commentary and analysis of yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep’t of Environmental Protection, No. 08-1151.

Continue Reading Friday’s Stop The Beach Renourishment (Judicial Takings) Links

Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep’t of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11 is generating a lot of analysis and commentary. When the case was filed and argued, we suspected it would generate keen interest, so in anticipation, the ABA’s State and Local Government Law Section assembled an expert panel discussion of the case at the upcoming ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Update and Lessons of Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection is scheduled for August 6, 2010 from 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square. I will be moderating the panel, which includes expert takings law advocates and scholars. All of us filed briefs in the case:

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Continue Reading ABA Panel On Stop The Beach Renourishment (San Francisco, 8/6/2010)

Here are some links to analysis of today’s U.S. Supreme Court opinions in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep’t of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11:

Continue Reading Stop The Beach Links

Professor Ben Barros has posted the first analysis and summary of today’s Supreme Court opinions in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep’t of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11. See Supreme Court Rules in Stop the Beach.

The Supreme Court today ruled in the Stop the Beach judicial takings case.  In an opinion by Justice Scalia, the Court rejected the judicial takings claim.  The Court’s judgment was unanimous, but there were fragmented opinions on various issues, as described further below.  For background on the case, see this post.  For a recap of the oral argument, see this post.  For a great description of the social conflicts behind the dispute, see this article from the New York Times Magazine. 

I will be updating this post with analysis of the Court’s opinions and with links to commentary about the case.

We will be posting some thoughts after a chance Continue Reading First Summary And Analysis Of Stop The Beach Renourishment Judicial Takings Case