Minor Violations Lead to Massive Prosecution Fees in Two California Desert Towns
A couple of busted windows can result in a bill for thousands-even tens of thousands-of dollars.
Property Rights
Florida Appeals Court Upholds City's Veggie-Garden Ban
A court says a city can squash your property rights because it thinks vegetables are ugly.
Justice Department Bizarrely Uses Madoff to Defend Taking People's Stuff Without Convicting Them First
Twisted incentives? What are those? Rod Rosenstein doesn't seem to have heard of them.
Wisconsin Lawmakers Pass Bill to Protect Property Rights, Reverse Supreme Court Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court said local regulators could treat two lots owned by the same family as if they were a single parcel. A new law aims to stop that.
After Stalling for Two Years, CBP Returns Truck It Stole at the Border
Gerardo Serrano still has not been compensated for the expenses imposed by the seizure.
Chicago Alderman Who Told Businessman to 'Come Back To Me On Your Knees' Sued for Abuse of Power
Brian Strauss sues to protect his property rights.
Michigan Mayor Offers Seized Money as a Citizen Reward for Drug Snitching. What Could Go Wrong?
Incentives for neighbors to turn on each other. Incentives for police to find reasons to seize people's stuff and keep it.
Does the Colorado River Have Rights?
The river doesn't need rights if people have strong property rights to its water.
2 Years After CBP Took His Truck Because of a Few Forgotten Bullets, Still No Hearing
A new lawsuit argues that owners of vehicles seized at the border have a constitutional right to prompt hearings.
New York Mayor to Property Owners: Drop Dead
De Blasio literally wants to tell people what to do with their land.
Forfeiture Loot Corrupts Justice
When law enforcement agencies make money by seizing property, due process vanishes.
Jeff Sessions Lets Cops Be Robbers
The attorney general revives a program that invites law enforcement agencies to evade state limits on asset forfeiture.
Supreme Court Deals Blow to Property Rights
Chief Justice Roberts: "Today's decision knocks the definition of 'private property' loose from its foundation."
L.A. Hotel Union Misleads About Airbnb, Hoping to Get Rid of Competition
Short-term rentals are not the source of what ails the city.
A Spectacularly Stupid Idea: Governing Land as a Global Commons
Making an environmental resource a commons is tantamount to calling for its destruction.
Local Officials Are Coming for Your Garden
Local regulatory busybodies are zoning away your right to grow food in your garden.
The Prospects for Progress in Africa
Nigeria will have a higher population than the U.S. by mid-century, when one in four people on Earth will live in Africa.
SCOTUS Says States Have No Right to Money Taken Based on Overturned Convictions
If making people prove their innocence to get their property back violates due process, what about civil forfeiture?
Maine Lawmaker Targets Foragers on Private Property
Should advanced permission be required, or should land owners post signs?
The Other Side of Legalized Theft
Civil forfeiture encourages cops to loot first and ask questions never.
North Dakota Senate Says It's Fine for Police to Seize Property Without a Conviction
Meanwhile, new reforms in Minnesota improve on a 2014 law requiring criminal conviction before property can be forfeited to law enforcement
Corporate Farming Laws a Bad Deal for Farmers
A farmer in Kansas who wants to sell his property challenges the state's law.
Georgia Legislature Weakens Eminent Domain Protections
Governments in Georgia will be allowed to seize property for "economic development" purposes, undoing reforms passed in 2006 after the Kelo ruling.
Why Several Western States Are Watching This Important Property Rights Case
Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Monday in Murr v. Wisconsin, which tests the rules for when governments must pay compensation for regulatory takings.
Supreme Court Will Examine Whether a Wisconsin Family Needs Government Permission to Sell Their Land
A dispute over 2.5 acres of land in the Wisconsin woods has morphed into a major property rights case. Several other states are watching it closely.
Environmental Protection Agency
Trump, Navigable Waters, and the EPA's WOTUS Regulations
Rolling back a "federal land grab" or instituting an "unmitigated disaster for fish and wildlife, hunting and fishing, and clean water"?
This Indiana Town Wants to Fine a Community Out of Existence on Behalf of Private Developers
Charlestown can't seize the properties, so it's citing them to force them to sell.
Trump Does Not Know What Civil Forfeiture Is, but He Likes It
The president agrees there should be no restraint on a form of legalized theft he clearly does not understand.
Lithium Mining, Formulaic Reporting, and The Washington Post
Missing the fact that governments, not mining companies, are the real villains
Thanksgiving Tragedy
Property rights saved the Pilgrims from starvation; a lack of property rights keeps Indians in poverty today.
Class-Action Lawsuit Targets New York's Abusive NYPD-Controlled Eviction Program
People's homes and businesses threatened unless they sign away rights.
Pipeline Brings a Property Rights Fight to Virginia
Property owner wants to prevent natural-gas surveyors from coming onto her land.
Coastal Commission Abuse Smacked Down by Court
Courts push back on property rights violations
Feds Return $29,500 They Stole From a Maryland Dairy Farmer
The DOJ starts to retroactively apply new guidelines for structuring-related forfeitures.
Homeless Survival and Property Rights Collide in Court Ruling
Let's not ignore the ordinances and harassment of the poor that led to this.
Supreme Court Rules 8-0 for Landowners Fighting Clean Water Act Regulations
SCOTUS issues important property rights victory in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co, Inc.
Arkansas Trooper Steals $20,000, Because Nobody Innocent Carries That Much Cash
Prosecutors tried to drop the forfeiture case, but the judge would not let them.
Can Blockchain Technology Reduce Third-World Poverty?
A better way to keep track of who owns what land.
Immigrant Could Lose His Business Because It's Not Fancy Enough for Lawmakers
If you thought eminent domain couldn't get any worse, Dallas will prove you wrong.
Use Property Rights to Save Fisheries Around the Globe, Says New Study
Anything you think of as an environmental problem is occurring in an open-access commons.
Appeals Court Rejects Cops' Hunch-Based Theft of $271,080
The 7th Circuit demands actual evidence of drug trafficking to justify the forfeiture of two brothers' savings.
Florida Legislators Unanimously Approve Major Forfeiture Reforms
The bill, which now goes to the governor, requires an arrest and proof beyond a reasonable doubt in most cases.
Sonia Sotomayor's Inconsistent Defense of the Bill of Rights
The liberal justice speaks out for the Fourth Amendment, but often fails to respect the Fifth.
NYPD Throws People Out of Their Homes Without Ever Proving Criminal Activity
The city's version of 'nuisance abatement' laws are designed to be abused.
