Qualified Immunity Meets the Takings Clause
A Sixth Circuit decision holds qualified immunity protects a state elevator inspector from being sued for taking a hotel's property.
Property Rights
Why a Supreme Court Justice Who Always Votes for One Type of Litigant isn't Necessarily Biased
Justice Gorsuch has never voted against Native American interests in a Supreme Court case. But that probably isn't because he's biased in favor of Indians. He simply believes that much existing precedent in this field is biased the other way.
Study: Banning Investors From Buying Homes Leads to Higher Rents, More Gentrification
Home prices were unaffected by a ban on buy-to-rent housing in the Netherlands, but more affordable rental housing disappeared.
Federal Circuit Rules Temporary-but-Recurring Flooding of Property by the Government is an Automatic per se Taking
If the government floods private property on a recurring basis, it is automatically required to pay compensation, and owners' claims are not subject to a balancing test.
Upcoming Symposium Opportunity on "Rethinking Penn Central"
The Pacific Legal Foundation is sponsoring a symposium on this important issue, which may be of interest to legal scholars and others.
Congress Considers Bipartisan Bill Curbing Asset Forfeiture
The FAIR Act would be a significant step forward. It just passed the House Judiciary Committee on a unanimous 26-0 vote.
Congress Considers Conditions on the Government's License To Steal
The FAIR Act includes several substantial reforms that would make it harder to take property from innocent owners through civil forfeiture.
A Flawed Attempt at a Libertarian Defense of Exclusionary Zoning
Robert Poole's effort to defend exclusionary zoning falls prey to a combination of logical fallacies and factual error.
Are Abortion Bans Takings?
Legal scholar Julie Suk argues the answer is "yes." The idea has a solid basis in natural rights theory, but is at odds with longstanding legal doctrine. It also has potentially very broad libertarian implications.
In State Legislatures, Targeted Bills and Bipartisan Support Were Key To Passing Housing Reforms
Meanwhile, big, partisan "everything bagel" zoning reform bills that tried to squeeze through the entire YIMBY agenda floundered.
Socialism Is Bad for the Environment
"All the time we hear socialists say, 'Next time, we'll get it right.' How many next times do you get?"
An Un-Bearable Fourth Amendment/Property Rights Case
A Connecticut case raises the issue of whether a government agency violated the Fourth Amendment by attaching a camera to a bear known to frequent the plaintiffs' property. While the facts may seem silly, the case does raise some serious issues.
A Connecticut Couple Challenges Warrantless Surveillance of Their Property by Camera-Carrying Bears
The lawsuit looks iffy in light of the Supreme Court's "open fields" doctrine.
NIMBY Cities Are Using Your Tax Dollars To Lobby Against New Housing
Publicly funded leagues of cities are fighting zoning reforms in state capitals across the country.
Bryan Caplan on NIMBYism and Economic Ignorance
Leading expert on political ignorance and housing comments on evidence indicating that ignorance, not self-interest, is at the root of most opposition to zoning reform.
Ron DeSantis Dangerously Blurs the Line Between State and Private Action
Whether the putative target is the "biomedical security state," wokeness, "Big Tech censors," or Chinese Communists, the presidential candidate’s grandstanding poses a clear threat to individual rights.
My New Brennan Center Article on Tyler v. Hennepin County and the Cross-Ideological Case for Stronger Judicial Protection for Constitutional Property Rights
The Tyler home equity theft case is just the tip of a much larger iceberg of property rights issues where stronger judicial protection can protect the interests of the poor and minorities, as well as promote the federalist values of localism and diversity.
Major Unanimous Supreme Court Victory for Property Rights in Tyler v. Hennepin County
The Supreme Court ruled that home equity theft qualifies as a taking, and that state law is not the sole source for the definition of property rights. The ruling is imprecise on some points, but still sets an important and valuable precedent.
Home Business Lawsuit Argues People Have a Natural Right To Keep Bees on Their Property
Ellen Finnerty wanted to make and sell honey. The town of Ottawa, Kansas, says that's illegal.
Florida's Restrictions on Property Purchases by Chinese Citizens Hark Back to a Dark History of Xenophobia
In a federal lawsuit on behalf of legal U.S. residents from China, the ACLU argues that "Florida's New Alien Land Law" is unconstitutional.
Economists Are Right To Hate Rent Control
Progressives like to argue that rent control policies that exempt new construction don't impact the construction of new housing.
Texas Bill Would Legalize Townhouses
The Texas Senate has passed two bills legalizing building homes on smaller lots and accessory dwelling units across the state.
How to End America's Kidney Shortage
Two leading experts explain how legalizing organ markets can fix the problem, thereby saving tens of thousands of lives each year, and greatly reducing the suffering of patients on the kidney waiting list.
City Threatens Christian Group With Fines, Prosecution for Giving the Homeless Muffins, Coffee
The Department of Justice is now intervening on behalf of the Orange County, California, group's right to distribute food at its resource center in Santa Ana.
The Case Against the Public Property Rationale for Immigration Restrictions
The argument has some appeal, especially to libertarians. But it's actually a rationale for sweeping statist constraints on liberty.
Our Amicus Brief Urging the Supreme Court to Hear and Reverse Egregious Fifth Circuit Decision that Creates a Catch-22 For Takings Claims Against State Governments
The decision is at odds with Supreme Court precedent, and endangers the constitutional rights of millions of people. This brief urging the court to reverse it was filed by the Cato Institute and myself.
Will There Finally be Some Development on the Land Condemned in Kelo v. City of New London?
A new development project may finally build new housing on on property whose condemnation for purposes of "economic development" was upheld by the Supreme Court in a controversial 2005 decision.
Justice Scalia's Unpublished Dissent in Kelo v. City of New London
Its existence was revealed when Justice John Paul Stevens' papers were made public earlier this week.
What I Learned From Justice Stevens' Papers on Kelo v. City of New London
There are several interesting revelations, including an unpublished dissent by Justice Antonin Scalia.
What I Hope to Learn from Justice Stevens' Papers on Kelo v. City of New London
The author of one of the Supreme Court's most widely hated rulings left us extensive files on the case, which have just been made public. They could help shed light on key unanswered questions about.
'It's Like Stockholm Syndrome': Gloria Álvarez Is Trying To Save Latin America From Socialism
"If there is freedom, private property, rule of law, then Latin Americans thrive," says the social media star.
The Difference Between Government-Imposed Zoning Restrictions and Private Planned Communities
Unliking zoning, private communities respect property rights, and do not create major barriers to people seeking to "vote with their feet" for a better community.
A YIMBY Victory in Montana
Montana's sweeping new zoning reform is both good in itself and a potential model for cross-ideological cooperation on this issue elsewhere.
More Evidence that Cutting Zoning Restrictions Reduces the Price of Housing
A new Pew Charitable Trusts study examining jurisdictions with that reformed zoning finds far lower rent increases there than elsewhere.
Oral Argument Indicates Property Rights Likely to Prevail in Supreme Court Home Equity Theft Takings Case
The decision may even be unanimous.
Unusual Cross-Ideological Agreement in Tyler v. Hennepin County
Takings cases often divide opinion along left-right ideological lines. The home equity theft case argued before the Supreme Court today is a rare exception.
She Had $2,300 in Unpaid Taxes. The County Bilked Her for $25,000.
Geraldine Tyler's case is not unique; home equity theft is legal in Minnesota and 11 other states.
Supreme Court Decides to Hear Important Asset Forfeiture Procedural Property Rights Case
The Court will determine whether the Due Process Clause prevents the government from using asset forfeiture to seize property and hold it for many months without a timely hearing.
Race, "Wokeness," and Kidney Transplant Shortages
Some conservatives are in the awkward position of resisting both policies that reduce the role of race in allocating kidneys for transplant, and those that increase it. The better way to alleviate kidney shortages is to legalize organ markets.
Video of My Federalist Society "Seat at the Sitting" Talk on Tyler v. Hennepin County
My presentation covers an important takings case currently before the Supreme Court.
Zoning Restrictions Spread to New Areas, Making Housing Crisis Worse
Harvard economist Edward Glaeser describes a dangerous trend. But a cross-ideological tide of reform might help reverse it.
Denver Voters Reject Plan To Let Developer Convert Its Private Golf Course Into Thousands of Homes
Developer Westside wanted to turn its 155-acre property into 3,200 homes and a public park.
The First 'Missing Middle' Reform of the Year Has Passed. Will It Get Housing Built?
Arlington's successful passage of a modest missing middle housing reform bill after an intense debate raises the question of whether YIMBY politics can practically fix the problems it sets out to address.
Tennessee Will Use Eminent Domain To Evict Black Farmers for Ford E.V. Factory
The state promised Ford nearly $900 million in incentives, including new and upgraded roads. But it chose to run that new road through a number of black-owned farms.
New York Lawmakers Could Pass the Nation's Strictest State-Level Rent Control Law by the End of the Week
A controversial "good cause" eviction bill that would cap rent increases could be included in a budget bill that must pass by April 1.
Progressive Politicians Are Regulating Their Own Projects Into Oblivion
Excessive government interference in the market hurts consumers and thwarts policy goals. It also gets in the way of the government itself.
Victory for Property Rights in Highly Technical Supreme Court Decision
An unusual coalition of liberal and conservative justices rules that property owners have right to use Quiet Title Act to contest federal intrusion on their land, even in some cases where the statute of limitations may have passed.
Federal Agencies Keep Failing To Legally Interpret the Clean Water Act
The Biden administration is the third administration in a row to fail to issue Clean Water Act regulations that pass judicial scrutiny.
