Category Archives: regulatory trend

INTERIM. Lege Trend: Ombudsman. Public Counsel for Eminent Domain.

Which state has an ombudsman, or public counsel, for eminent domain? Missouri

What does the Missouri Office of Public Counsel do for Missourians facing eminent domain?

  •  providing property owners with guidance on the condemnation process
  • documents the use of eminent domain in Missouri and provides the Legislature with an annual report of how Missourians are affected by eminent domain

Which state agency houses the Missouri Office of Public Counsel? Missouri’s Public Utility Commission

…

Private Property Rights. Deer Disease. 4 Key Points from TPWD delayed vote.

When will be the next vote by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Commissioners on deer disease reforms? 30 day delay from Thursday, May 26, 2016 TPWD decision to delay the vote

What 2 things did the TPWD proposed rules do?

  • New testing of deer for disease
  • Radio chipping deer

Who supports the TPWD proposed rule? Property rights advocates. Why? The rules could contain the spread of disease from breeders to herds on private land

Who opposes TPWD proposed rules? Deer…

Private Property Rights: 1st City in US Addresses Blight By Treating the Source.

What city is addressing blight by “treating the source?” Memphis

How much blight is in Memphis? 16% of housing stock is vacant

What are the 3 goals of the Memphis Neighborhood Blight Elimination Charter? 

  • economic development
  • quality of life
  • coordination among exisiting local governmental agencies that tackle blight

What entities are involved with the Memphis Nighborhood Blight Elimination Center?

  • nine government agencies
  • nonprofits
  • private businesses

What were tangential…

TRENDING: Eminent Domain for Drug Prices. 3 Key Pieces of Intel.

A group of physicians writing in the Washington Post argue the federal government should be able to use eminent domain for drug prices. 

The intel:

  • The federal government has the power to use patents
  • The federal government has used this “eminent domain” power of drugs in 2001
    • It was used as leverage during the 2001 anthrax attacks when the federal government suggested it would import the drugs rather than buy the drugs through Bayer. Bayer lowered its price and reached an argeement with…

Eminent Domain for Drug Prices. 3 Key Points to the Argument.

  • Federal Law Says So. The because I said so reason from the government for siezing drug companies patents is rooted in 28 U.S.C. section 1498. 
  • Reasonable Compensation to Pharmaceuticals. Drug companies would get “reasonable and entire compensation”
  • The government doesn’t have to get consent. The government can use any patent without consent so long as the compensation is ” “reasonable and entire.”

The question: does the fear of eminent domain to take drug patents bring about…

Legal Trend. Property Rights. Sovereign Immunity. Deer Breeders v. TPWD Wasting Disease Enforcement.

The property right: The Business of Deer Breeding

The lawsuit: Deer breeders sued the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department in Feburary 2015 over the taking of their property 

What was the property taking alleged by the property owners? The culling of the deer population was tantamount to a taking of private property by eminent domain

What happened in the lawsuit? TPWD claimed sovereign Immunity & the state district judge non-suited the case.

San Antonio Express News via the Chronic…

Legal Trend at SCOTUS: Regulatory Takings. 3 Key Informed Intel.

What case before the U.S. Supreme Court is about regulatory takings? Murr v. Wisconsin, No. 15-214

What happened to the property owner to spark this lawsuit?

  • Property owners owned 2 adjacent, but separate, 1 acre lots
  • A County Ordinance prohibits the sale or development of adjacent lots, if 1 lot is less than an acre
  • The Property Owners said it prevented them from enjoying and using their land, and prohibited the sale of 1 of the acres
  • The Court said, we have to consider both lots as…

INTERIM. 2 Problems. Property Rights. 1 West Houston TIRZ.

The Memorial City TIRZ, a special district, in located in west Houston, is geerating attention for these structural and operational problems:

  • The TIRZ was created in 1999 by Mayor Brown
    • It called for “qualified neighborhood residents” to be the board members
    • Spring Branch West Super Neighborhood says appointees aren’t being vetted through them, and they have no representation on the board
  • Flooding sparked a lawsuit against the TIRZ
    • A 2 year flood led the Residents Against Flooding…

Eminent Domain at heart of a FERC Denial. Lawyers Read the Tea Leaves. 3 Points Informed Intel.

Which FERC denial triggered a lawyer brainstorming session?  The denial of “Jordan Cove Energy Project, L.P. (Jordan Cove) for authority under Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) to site, construct, and operate a facility at Coos Bay, Oregon, for the exportation, principally to Asia, of liquefied natural gas (LNG)”

What eminent domain issue to the lawyers point to? “the pipeline proposal’s impact on landowners and communities given the Pacific Connector’s need for eminent…

Techie Buys Beach Front Property. Surfers Want Beach Access. Coastal Commission Steps in with Eminent Domain. Plot for Point Break #3 Develops.

Techies, Surfers and a state agency? Yes, a founder of Sun Microsystems bought 89 acres of beach front property sorth of Maverick’s. It could also be the plot to Point Break #3.

Had surfers had access to the beach before his purchase? yes.

How did the state lands commission get involved? 

  • It began with criminal charges agaisnt the surfers, with video tape evidence of the alleged trespass.
  • The criminal charges go away.
  • The State Lands Commission stesp in to negotiate access.
  • The…