Arkansas Game Remand Equals Just Compensation for Property Owner
Almost a year to the date after the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Arkansas Game and Fish Commission v. United States, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that the governmental taking caused by an Army Corps controlled flooding program was compensable. The Circuit Court “affirm[ed] the judgment of the Court...
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N.J. Supreme Court Opines on Prior Public Use Doctrine in Railroad Case
On August 6, 2013, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued its opinion in Norfolk Southern Railway Co. v. Intermodal Properties (available here). The Court’s opinion was limited to analysis of two narrow issues; 1) whether the proposed use is incompatible with the public interest; and 2) whether the term “exigencies of business” limited the railroad...
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Government Can’t Make Developers "Show Them the Money"
Big Win For Property Rights in US Supreme Court Yesterday, the United State Supreme Court issued a decision which has caused property rights advocates and developers to rejoice, and is likely to become a historic property rights precedent for years to come. The 5-4 decision in Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Mgmt District, No. 11-1447 (copy...
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Arkansas Fish and Game – Remand Briefs
As you know from our December 2012 blog, the United States Supreme Court found that an Army Corps flooding program, which damaged a hardwood forest managed by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, may constitute a taking of private property. Therefore, the Court upheld the property owner’s inverse condemnation claim, reversed the Fifth Court’s decision...
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US Supreme Court: Temporary Flooding May Constitute a "Taking"
Photo courtesy: www.agfc.com Today, the United States Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision in the case of Arkansas Game and Fish Commission v. United States (No.11-597). The Court concluded in a ruling favorable to the property owner “that recurrent floodings, even if of finite duration, are not categorically exempt from Takings Clause liability.” (Slip op....
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Willets Point Takings Abandoned by NYC at Eleventh Hour
The City of New York has withdrawn its efforts to use eminent domain to acquire properties within a 62-acre “Iron Triangle” in the Willets Point section of Queens near Citi Field and downtown Flushing. The condemnations were scheduled to proceed to hearing next week, but the Bloomberg administration instead halted the takings of several private...
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Property Owners’ Prayers Answered by Supreme Court in Sackett Case
Property owners Michael and Chantell Sackett of Priest Lake, Idaho fought the law, and surprisingly, they won. On March 21, 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States – in a unanimous decision – sided with the property owners in determining that the property owners had the right to challenge an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)...
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McKirdy & Riskin attend Eminent Domain Conference in China
Edward McKirdy and Harry Riskin, McKirdy & Riskin‘s founding partners, recently attended the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference in Beijing, China. The annual conference, which focuses on the interplay of civil rights and property rights, brought legal scholars, jurists, and practitioners from the United States and China together at Tsinghua University in Beijing to discuss and...
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Brooke Shields to Play Susette Kelo in New Movie
Kelo v. City of New London is moving from a court case of a lifetime to a movie on the Lifetime Channel. The movie is based on the book “Little Pink House” about Susette Kelo and the Fort Trumbull section of New London’s fight against eminent domain for redevelopment purposes. Susette Kelo’s story became famous the United...
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Long Branch Property Owners Suffer Setback
As reported today in the Asbury Park Press, four property owners in Long Branch’s infamous MTOTSA (Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace, and Seaview Avenue) redevelopment area lost their most recent battle with the governing body. Two years ago, after the Appellate Division reversed a trial court decision that authorized the use of eminent domain to acquire private...
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