November 2016 – Page 2 – InfoHive

Legal Trend. No Pre-condemnation Access. +1 State Supreme Court

Requiring that land owners allow precondemnation access to their land for pipelines is going out of fashion.

The latest court to side against pipelines in eminent domain: The West Virigina State Supreme Court

What did the West Virigina Supreme Court have to say?

unconvinced the pipeline serves a public benefit
if there is no public benefit, there is no eminent domain and there is no access to land without land owner consent.

Why did the court decide there was no public benefit in the…

Eminent Domain and the Border Wall. 3 Things to Learn from the Existing Border Fence.

Eminent Domain was used to erect current border divisions.
Nearly all the land on the Texas border is privately owned
Its not going to be a fast process, the last litigation process was long and costly for the government.

Houston Chronicle | Border residents wonder what it will be like to live in shadow of President-elect Trump’s wall

Outside the Box. Eminent Domain Used for Film Footage.

The film footage: Footage from President Kenedy’s fateful day in Dallas

Did the government compensate the film’s owner? In 1999 the family was compensated $16 million

San Francisco Chronicle | ‘Twenty-Six Seconds,’ by Alexandra Zapruder

Can a city sue a bank? When bank actions led to blight?

What city wants to sue banks? Miami

Why is Miami suing? Big banks created discriminatory lending practices that led to foreclosures, less tax revenue & blight

Is this a new kind of lawsuit? No the federal government has been settling suits like this against big banks.

Washington Post | Supreme Court seems to favor Miami suing banks whose lending practices led to neighborhood blight

Property Owner Says Silent Majority Supports Eminent Domain.

Who: A Virigina landowner, whose land could be impacted by a pipeline

Is doing what? Defending the pipeline. The landowner says that federal agencies, and not landowners, should determine whether a pipeline is a public benefit.

What elese does this landowner say about eminent domain? “without eminent domain, there is no civilization”

What do opponents say? “We are fighting against taking our property for profit.”

NBC 29 WVIR | Property Owner Defends Pipeline, Says He’s in ‘Silent…

Legal Trend. Private Property Rights. What do most state courts say about civil asset forfeiture?

The majority of state Supreme Courts havve said that property cannot be forfeited before a trial by jury takes place.

Governing | Police-Seizure Ruling Puts Montana in Line With Most States

Missoulian | High court rules for jury trials in civil forfeiture cases

Legal Trend. Private Property Rights v. 1st Amendment Rights.

informed intel has seen private property rights v. religious freedom rights, in which the 1st amendment right to freedom of religion won.

Informed intel is seeing private property rights prevail in these latest rounds:

From the Great State of Utah:
- An Agricultural Gag Law, or “Ag Gag Law” is seeing the private property rights of agrarians be pitted against the first amendment freedom of expression rights of animal activists.
From the Great State of Idaho: There’s no ruling in…

Private Property Rights. New Fronts. State Supreme Court denies eminent domain for private gain.

Background: In September the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied eminent domain authoeity for underground gas storage as unconstitutional under both the state and federal constitution.

What did private property activists learn from the Supreme Court ruling?

Economic gain by the condemnor can be a trigger for courts

State Impact Pennsylvania | A new front emerges in the battle against eminent domain