OCA Blog

In Tuesday's election, Texas voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of Proposition 11, a constitutional amendment limiting the state's eminent domain powers. Prop 11 (H.J.R. 14, Article 1) limits the use of eminent domain for public use and specifically defines "public use" to specifically not include "the taking of private property for...transfer to a private entity for the purpose of economic development or enhancement of tax revenue purposes." (See "Analyses...

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The opinion piece below appeared in today's Arizona Daily Star and is attributed to Senator John McCain. Senator McCain clearly disagrees with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Kelo and even calls upon the Court to revisit "its decision in the near term because it is irresponsible for the court to abandon long-held limitations on government power." Although it is unlikely that the Court will revisit Kelo...

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The sixth annual Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference and presentation of the 2009 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize was held this past weekend, October 16 & 17, at the College of William & Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia. The 2009 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize was presented to Professor Richard E. Pipes, Professor Emeritus of History at Harvard University in the historic Sir Christopher Wren Building – America’s oldest academic building...

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Today's oral arguments before the New York Court of Appeals in Goldstein, et al. v. New York State Urban Development Corporation d/b/a/ Empire State Development Corporation begin at 2:00 PM (EST) and are available via webcast.

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The New York Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in Goldstein, et al. v. New York State Urban Development Corporation d/b/a/ Empire State Development Corporation on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 beginning at 2:00 pm (EST). It is expected that arguments will be available by webcast.

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(Williamsburg, VA) - William & Mary Law School will host the Sixth Annual Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Oct. 16-17 in Williamsburg, Va. The conference is presented by the William & Mary Property Rights Project and the Institute of Bill of Rights Law.

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The Institute for Justice announced this week that IJ lawyers had reached an agreement with Long Branch attorneys settling the eminent domain actions filed almost five years ago against a group of homeowners whose properties lie along Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace and Seaview Avenue (MTOTSA) in Long Branch.

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In a statement on its website, the Connecticut Office of Ombudsman For Property Rights announced the closure of the office effective September 8, 2009 as a result of budgetary constraints. Robert S. Poliner who held the position of the first and only Connecticut Ombudsman for Property Rights served only two years.

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On September 4, OCA Hawaii Member Robert Thomas filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Owners' Counsel of America in Stop the Beachfront Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep't of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11 (cert. granted. June 15, 2009). The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether a 2008 Florida Supreme Court decision which upheld the Florida Beach and Shore Preservation Act and reversed more than a century of Florida law...

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A New Jersey appeals court recently ruled that business losses resulting from a temporary taking of commercial property for the repair of public infrastructure must be compensated. In it's August 27, 2009 opinion, the appellate court upheald a trial court’s dismissal of the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s attempted taking of such a property where its offer of compensation failed to consider the business losses. The appellate court, in...

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