Water rights | Public trust

Subscribe to Water rights | Public trust via RSS

Fire up your web browsers, turn up your speakers, and tune in tomorrow, Tuesday, May 5, 2020, at 10am Hawaii Time (1pm Pacific, 2pm Mountain, 3pm Central, and 4pm Eastern) for a first: the Hawaii Supreme Court will be livestreaming oral arguments in an important case about administrative law, water rights, environmental law, and native Hawaiian rights.

(For all you “mainland” folks, you may want to tune in even if those topics don’t interest you, just to hear the way our court crier opens the proceedings. Yes, the traditional “Oyez” call is made, but if these arguments are like in-person OA at the court, there’s a very Hawaiian touch also.)

Here’s the summary of the issues, from the Judiciary web site:

HEALOHA CARMICHAEL, LEZLEY JACINTHO, and N MOKU AUPUNI O KO OLAU HUI, Petitioners/Plaintiffs-Appellees/Cross-Appellees/Cross-Appellants, vs. BOARD OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES, SUZANNE CASE, in her official capacity as…

Continue Reading Hawaii Supreme Court Livestream Oral Argument In Water Rights, Admin Law Case (Tuesday, May 5, 2020, 10am HT, 1pm PT, 4pm ET)

We were all set to digest the California Court of Appeal’s opinion in Ruiz v. County of San Diego, No. D074654 (Apr. 7, 2020), when we realized that the opinion was not issued today, but merely ordered published today, and that the opinion was issued last month as an unpublished. So we checked with the California Eminent Domain Law Report, and sure enough, Brad Kuhn had written up the case back when it was issued. Thus, we won’t be diving into the case in too much detail, but instead offer a couple of thoughts to supplement Brad’s. 

Short story: Ruiz’s property suffered a flood after a storm drain installed by the property’s developer overflowed. Installed 50 years ago, the drain eventually rusted. The drain was privately owned. The developer had offered to dedicate the drain to the County, but the County had not accepted the dedication.The…

Continue Reading Cal Ct App: Storage Of Publicly-Owned Water On Private Property Isn’t A Taking

Here’s the latest in a case we’ve been following. We even visited the site with our class last year. 

Today, the Virginia Supreme Court heard argument on the petition for appeal (streaming above from the webstream, or download the mp3 here) in what we call the oyster case because it involves the property rights of Nansemond River oystermen, whose oyster beds were polluted by sewage from the City of Suffolk.

Bottom line from today’s argument: no decision yet. These arguments are short (10 minutes), only the petitioner is allowed to argue, and today’s argument did not elicit any questions from the three-Justice panel. So we wait. 

Some background, since this is a case at the intersection of property and takings law, and environmental protection. The oystermen own a lease from the state for the riverbed, which among other things, allows them to harvest some of the oysters that Virginia…

Continue Reading SCOVA Oral Argument: Does A City Have The Right To Pollute Chesapeake Bay?

EOGnEv8W4AAoKnI

Picture 1: how normal people see pie.

Picture 2: how you see pie if you’re coming to the
ALI-CLE Eminent Domain Conference. 

If you get the above, you probably are already set to join us next week for the 37th Annual ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conference in Nashville. (If not, shame on you!).

And having just reviewed the latest registration list, I can report that we have an all-time record attendance.  But there’s still room for those of you still not committed. Register here. Don’t miss out. There will be pie. Continue Reading Record Attendance (But There’s Still Time For You Last-Minute Filers) At Nashville ALI-CLE Eminent Domain Conference

ELHy3bhUYAAdM4B

If there’s one downside to the law school experience from the teacher’s side of the lectern, it’s grading. Especially at a law school like William and Mary that has a pretty strict mandatory curve.

In an upper-division course like “Eminent Domain and Property Rights Law,” where we’re dealing with some very high-level stuff and the quality of the students is uniformly excellent, that makes for some hard choices at this time of year. But we’ve wrapped up grading, and have submitted the official scores.

Although I cannot share with you all the papers themselves, I don’t think my students would mind if I give you a sampling of the topics and titles, just so you can see how the next generation of lawyers is thinking about this area of law: 

  • One Man’s Castle is Another Man’s Parking Lot: A Homeowner’s Theory of Eminent Domain
  • Native Title: Concept and

…
Continue Reading The Circle Is Now Complete: A Sampling Of Final Paper Topics From William and Mary Law’s Eminent Domain & Property Rights Course

One does not simply walk to nashville

You can also fly, drive, or bike to the upcoming 37th Annual ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference. in Nashville. Limited space still available, so don’t delay further and register now. We’re on track to record attendance, so you don’t want to miss the best nationally-focused three-day program on our area of law.

Takings, Knick, compensation, appraisals … and a bit of fun thrown in. We have many new attendees, and many new speakers, too.  Continue Reading (Nearly) Last Chance To Join Us In Nashville For ALI-CLE’s Eminent Domain Conference

Untitled Extract Pages

Here’s the Complaint filed earlier this month in an Indiana federal court, which alleges that the State of Indiana is liable for a judicial taking in a case we’ve been following. Yes, a judicial taking! 

You recall that in Gunderson v. Indiana, 90 N.E.3d 171 (Ind. 2018), the Indiana Supreme Court concluded that the public owns up to the ordinary high water mark on Lake Michigan and had done so all the way back to statehood in 1816. Problem is, according to the plaintiffs here, “undisputed local, state, and federal acknowledgement over the years” was otherwise – the law said that the property was private, not public. Thus (again, according to the Complaint), “the Gunderson judgment changed the law of the State of Indiana, as recognized by prior Indiana court precedent as well as federal, state, and local authorities.” Complaint at 2.

We suggest you read the entire Complaint. It…

Continue Reading New Fed Ct Judicial Takings Complaint: Indiana Supreme Court “Transformed Established Law” Of Shoreline Ownership

We were not as creative as our colleague Paul Henry (see below), but our Planning Co-Chair Joe Waldo and I wanted to personally invite you to join the “big guns” in our area of law at the 37th Annual ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conference, January 23-25, 2020, in Nashville, Tennessee.

We’ve assembled an excellent faculty, and an agenda that covers the hot topics of the day. Go here to view the complete faculty list and agenda. Water rights, Knick, appraisal, ethics, civil rights, and a whole lot more in three days of the longest (and we think best) conference in our area of law. Also, for those new to the field, Andy Brigham and Jack Sperber are again leading their “Eminent Domain 101” program. A great way to learn the topic, or for experienced lawyers to get a quick refresher on the basics. Your registration…

Continue Reading Don’t Miss Out: Join The “Big Guns” And Secure Your Space At ALI-CLE’s Upcoming Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference (Jan 23-25, 2020, Nashville)