The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court decision to find a possible equal protection violation when a state water quality control board's overzealous regulation of a ski resort's water discharges may have been motivated by personal animus, but affirmed the decision on all remaining claims. When the...

The Federal Circuit reversed a lower court decision that a commercial fishing company suffered a taking when its fishing permits were revoked under 1997 and 1998 Appropriations Acts. The Appropriations Acts cancelled the company's existing permits and authorization letter and prevented any further p...

The Third Circuit upheld a district court decision that a state wildlife and game commission's refusal to exempt a Native American, who owns black bears for religious purposes, from a permit fee violates the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause. The permitting scheme is subject to strict scrutiny....

The Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a company's complaint alleging that Arizona state officials' policy against using materials mined from Woodruff Butte in state construction projects violates the company's constitutional rights. The Establishment Clause does not bar the government from prote...

The Federal Circuit held that a mining company did not suffer a taking when the OSM designated lands subject to the company's surface mining leases as unsuitable for mining pursuant to SMCRA. The company did not suffer a categorical taking because the company did not lose all economically viable use...

The Federal Circuit held that the BLM's delay in approving a company's application for permits to drill oil and gas wells did not constitute a temporary regulatory taking. The delay was not extraordinary since it allowed the government to evaluate whether the proposed wells would cause the release o...

The Sixth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a company's takings claim against Kentucky for denying a permit to mine. The company originally filed suit in state court, where it ultimately was dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. It then filed suit in federal court. The Eleventh Ame...

A federal claims court, on remand, adjusted the damages awarded to the owners of low-income housing units that suffered a temporary regulatory takings in connection with the passage of the Emergency Low-Income Housing Preservation Act of 1987 and the Low-Income Housing Preservation and Resident Home...

The Federal Circuit held that the government's deposit of sand on landowners' property amounted to a physical taking of a permanent easement but that the landowners failed to establish any decline in the fair market value of their property. Although the lower court properly held that the landowners ...

The Ninth Circuit held that an agricultural association's First Amendment Expression Policy, which prohibits individuals from demonstrating outside its rodeo and circus arena except in designated "free expression zones" that are located away from the building's entrances, is unconstitutional on its ...