Yearly Archives: 2010

Two Mississippi landowners have recently reached a $1.2 million settlement with the United States Navy regarding compensation for land taken for use by Special Boat Team TWENTY-TWO (SBT-22) as a special operations live-fire riverine training range along the Pearl River in Hancock County, Mississippi. SBT-22, based at John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, is one of three Special Boat Teams.

Robert Smith’s family has owned the 100-acre Willow Pond Farm in Washington Township, NJ since 1790. Today, more than 200 years since the family began working the farm, its future as a working farm and preserved farmland is threatened by the Washington Township Municipal Utilities Authority’s (MUA) plan to condemn 0.86 acres of the property for the purpose of drilling a public well to provide water for the municipal drinking supply.

Albeit a bit belated, we send our best wishes for another great year in blogging to our fellow law blogger Robert Thomas who celebrated the 4th anniversary of the birth of his blog www.inversecondemnaton.com on August 31.

Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt, one of the Pacific Northwest’s leading law firms, has entered the wonderful world of law blogging. Joining us and our fellow bloggers in the areas of eminent domain, condemnation, inverse condemnation, regulatory takings and property rights in Schwabe’s Condemnation Law Blog are Schwabe attorneys Dennis Dunphy, Jill Gelineau and Jamilia Johnson.

The 2010 annual meeting of the American Bar Association featured a panel discussion moderated by OCA member Robert Thomas, a Hawaii land use and appellate lawyer. The topic was the recent Supreme Court case, Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

The Washington Supreme Court issued an opinion Thursday in Proctor v. Huntington, No. 82326-0 (August 19, 2010), a case involving a property line dispute between neighbors. The Court was split 5-4 with the majority finding in favor of the encroaching property owner and upholding the opinions of a Skamania County judge and the Court of Appeals.

The annual Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference presented by the William & Mary Property Rights Project and the Institute of The Bill of Rights Law will be held September 30 – October 1, 2010 at the William & Mary Law School in historic Williamsburg, VA.

This year marks the five-year anniversary of the landmark case, Kelo v. New London, which educated the public about the state’s abuse of the power of eminent domain.

Yesterday, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued its opinion in Eagan Economic Development Authority v. U-Haul Co. of Minnesota, No. A08-767 (July 29, 2010). The state supreme court reversed a 2009 appellate court decision which invalidated a “quick-take” condemnation on the basis that the Eagan Economic Development Authority (EDA) exceeded its authority to acquire property via eminent domain as the city had not executed “a binding development agreement respecting the project.”

According to the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom published by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, 16 countries rank higher than the United States in protecting private property rights. From the report: “The United States’ economic freedom score is 78.0, making its economy the 8th freest in the 2010 Index. Its score is 2.7 points lower than last year, reflecting notable decreases in financial freedom, monetary freedom, and property rights.”