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 ...

The Fifth Circuit dismissed solid waste disposal companies' claims that local solid waste flow control ordinances violate the Commerce Clause. The companies lack standing to claim that the ordinances are facially discriminatory against out-of-state interests. The ordinances prohibit the export of an...

The Ninth Circuit upheld an individual's misdemeanor conviction for using National Forest System land in a gathering of over 75 other persons without a special-use permit. The conviction did not violate his First Amendment rights because the group-use permit scheme leaves open ample alternatives for...

The Federal Circuit affirms a lower court decision finding property owners' takings claim against the National Marine Fisheries Service unripe. The owners sought to harvest redwood trees on their property. After learning that the cost of an incidental take permit (ITP) under the Endangered Species A...

The Federal Claims Court holds that landowners are not entitled to just compensation under the Fifth Amendment in their action against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) for requiring them to set aside a portion of their property as mitigation wetlands in exchange for a §404 permit to...

The Seventh Circuit held that the state of Illinois would be violating the U.S. Constitution if it confiscated any part of a clean energy foundation's assets. After the state legislature passed an authorizing statute, the foundation was created out of the profits from a private company's sale of sev...