The court rules that Indiana waste transportation and disposal laws that impose restrictions on fleet dedication, backhauling, vehicle registration, bonding, and fees to discourage disposal of out-of-state solid waste violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Indiana enacted these restri...

The court holds that a California county, as a public entity and holder of the power of eminent domain, did not act in good faith when it entered private property to build improvements and thus must fully compensate the landowners for its own improvements. The court first concludes that the inapplic...

The court dismisses claims by property owners under 42 U.S.C. §§1983 and 1985 against a city, a waste management company, and a construction company for injunctive relief and monetary damages, based on alleged violations of civil rights guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S....

The court holds that a county ordinance imposing strict regulations on persons and corporations that import out-of-county waste for disposal in the county is subject to strict scrutiny under the Commerce Clause. Following the Supreme Court's holding in Ft. Gratiot Sanitary Landfill, Inc. v. Michigan...

The court holds unconstitutional the requirement in §609(a) of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Appropriations Act of 1990 that the executive branch initiate discussions with foreign nations to develop treaties to protect sea turtles, and holds that the Co...

The court holds that state statutory provisions authorizing regulations that impose a surcharge on disposal of out-of-state solid waste are unconstitutional and severable, but that the surcharge does not violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The court first holds that the surcharge r...

The court holds that the attachment to landowners' development permits of conditions that require landowners to dedicate portions of their property for public use is not a taking of property that violates the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A city granted the landowners' application for re...

The court affirms a district court holding that a development company failed to exhaust adequate state remedies in challenging as a taking a special assessment levied by a village. In 1980, the village entered an agreementto construct a local sewer system and levied reserve capacity assessments to f...

The court holds that although conservation officers conducted a search and seizure without a warrant and within the curtilage of individuals' home, the officers enjoyed qualified immunity. The individuals own an undeveloped tract of 50 acres that abuts a state park in which no hunting is allowed. Th...

The court holds that the New York Air Pollution Mitigation Law is preempted by the Clean Air Act (CAA) and violates the U.S. Commerce Clause. Under Air Pollution Mitigation Law §66-k, an electric generator is assessed an offset penalty when it sells a sulfur dioxide (SO2) allowance to a generator i...