The Court rules that a South Carolina beachfront regulation that prohibits construction seaward of a setback line cannot be sustained without paying just compensation for a developer's lost use of two vacant beachfront lots. The developer bought the lots, located on a South Carolina barrier island, ...

The court vacates and remands a magistrate judge's decision that a Florida county's land use plan resulted in a taking of waterfront property under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, because the magistrate judge misapplied the legal standard for partial takings and failed ...

The court holds that an appeal by commercial fishermen from a federal district court's dismissal of the fishermen's constitutional taking, equal protection, and due process challenge of a court-approved Michigan plan to restore aboriginal fishing rights to Michigan Indians, involving exclusive fishi...

The court holds that a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (Corps') cease and desist order requiring a land developer to suspend construction on wetlands' portions of a residential development for three years did not constitute a taking of property without just compensation in violation of the Fifth Amend...

On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the South Carolina Supreme Court directs the trial court to make specific findings of damages, commencing with the date of enactment of the 1988 state Beachfront Management Act through the date of the court's order, to compensate a landowner for a temporary dep...

The court rules that the provisions of the Georgia Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act (GCSWMA), and regulations of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division (EPD) governing out-of-state solid waste, are unconstitutional burdens on interstate commerce in viol...

The court amends its decision at 22 ELR 21455, which vacated and remanded a magistrate judge's decision that a Florida county's land use plan resulted in a taking of waterfront property under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. In its amended opinion, the court directs the ...

The court holds that a county in the state of Washington violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution when it adopted an ordinance barring disposal in the county of medical waste generated outside the county, and the court remands for a determination of whether attorneys fees are warranted ...

The court holds that an Office of Government Ethics' (OGE's) regulation allowing federal employees to accept reimbursement for expenses incurred in giving "official" speeches, but not "unofficial" speeches, is valid on its face under the First Amendment. The court first holds that the proper standar...

The court dismisses claims by owners of property adjacent to a natural gas pipeline that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Natural Gas Act (NGA), and the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution when it issued a certificate ...