The Second Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that New York's purchase of the Niagara River islands from the Seneca Nation of Indians in 1815 did not violate the Non-Intercourse Act, which bars conveyances by Indians to non-Indians unless ratified by Congress. Although the transaction was not a...

A California appellate court upheld a city's decision not to prepare an environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the construction of a senior citizens housing complex. A neighborhood group argued that the project would have a significant adverse aes...

The Tenth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a timber company's claim challenging the U.S. Forest Service's Historical Preservation Plan (HPP) for the Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark and Vicinity in the Bighorn National Forest. The Forest Service rejected the company's challenge to the HPP, w...

A California appellate court held that a dentist was not entitled to compensation for loss of goodwill as a result of a state university's condemnation of property in which the dentist held a leasehold interest. The constitutional right to just compensation does not include the loss of goodwill to a...

The Fifth Circuit held that an individual failed to state a claim under the reverse FCA in its qui tam action against a chemical manufacturer. In a reverse false claims suit, the defendant's action does not result in improper payment by the government to the defendant, but instead results in no paym...

A California appellate court held that a trial court need not grant relief from a dismissal entered for failing to request a hearing on the merits in a CEQA case when the failure was caused by an attorney's inexcusable mistake or neglect. CEQA requires that a petitioner request a hearing within 90 d...

A California appellate court reversed a county's adoption of a mitigated negative declaration under CEQA in connection with the demolition of an old county jail. The group challenging the declaration demonstrated that the jail is an historic resource, that its demolition will have a significant envi...

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 ...

A California appellate court rejected a mining and construction advocacy group's challenge to a state agency regulation barring the sale and supply of asbestos-containing rock for the surfacing of future unpaved roads. Under the Tanner Act, which identifies and regulates toxic air contaminants by ai...

A California appellate court affirmed a lower court decision setting aside the adoption of a mitigated negative declaration for the construction of an apartment complex because the county and developers failed to meet the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). An advocacy g...