An Alabama Family Is Fighting a Losing Battle Against Eminent Domain
The Moore family has lived on their land for generations. Now the state of Alabama says their homes must make way for a highway.
Property Rights
To Promote Public Safety, Michigan Authorizes Cops To Rob Travelers at Airports
The change represents a substantial reversal of civil forfeiture reforms aimed at protecting innocent property owners.
Meet Newton Howard, the Brain Scientist Who Put Giant Transformers in Front of His D.C. Home
The Georgetown professor isn't a toy lover—he's trying to convey a philosophical idea about the nature of free will and the capacity of humans to remake the world around them.
When Is it a Taking of Private Property to Bar a Property Owner from Excluding Unwanted Visitors?
Understanding the scope of Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid.
Sheriff Agrees To Stop Stealing Cannabis Cash From Armored Cars, Saying His Deputies 'Are Not Highway Robbers'
The settlement came after the Justice Department agreed to return more than $1 million in proceeds from state-licensed marijuana businesses in California.
Reversing Roe v. Wade Wouldn't be the First Time the Supreme Court Gutted Precedents that Protect Individual Rights - Far From it
That fact doesn't necessarily justify overruling Roe. Depending on how it's viewed, the history of such reversals may even counsel against further such moves.
The State Took Her Home Because She Missed $900 in Property Taxes
Tawanda Hall's house was worth $286,000 more than her overdue tax bill. There was nothing she could do about it.
My Washington Post Article on Gun Rights and Property Rights
It explains why laws requiring private property owners to allow guns on their land are an affront to property rights, and violate the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
The Feds Will Return More Than $1 Million in Marijuana Money That California Cops Stole From Armored Cars
Empyreal Logistics agreed to drop its claims against the Justice Department, but it is still suing San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus.
Eighth Circuit Rules Eviction Moratoria are Likely to be Takings Requiring Compensation Under the Fifth Amendment
The court based its decision on the US Supreme Court's 2021 decision in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid.
Article on "Gun Rights, Property Rights, and Takings"
My Duke Center for Firearms Law piece on why laws forcing private property owners to allow guns on their premises violate property rights and often qualify as takings requiring compensation under the Fifth Amendment.
Video of American Enterprise Institute Event on my Book "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom"
It includes commentary by housing policy specialist Emily Hamilton (Mercatus Center), and economist Filipe Campante (Johns Hopkins University).
L.A. Considers Honoring Civil Rights-Era Housing Activist by Making It Harder To Build Housing
Preservationists hope to make the one-time home of Loren Miller a historic landmark. That it would make it nearly impossible to redevelop the $1.4 million two-bedroom home.
Massacre at Flowertown
2.5 million dead bees, and an unlikely test of public health powers.
"Woodman, Spare That Tree!," Says Pensacola
Nay, says the Florida Court of Appeal majority, interpreting a recent "statute authoriz[ing] residential property owners to remove trees from their property without interference from local government" if an arborist or landscape architect says the "trees present a danger to persons or property."
Texas Town Shuts Down Her Home Day Care After Nearby Golfers Complain the Kids Were Making Too Much Noise
Bianca King argues in a new lawsuit that Lakeway, Texas, zoning officials illegally deprived her of her right to earn a living by denying her a permit for her home day care business.
The Destruction of Detroit's Black Bottom
How the zeal for government project housing killed a prosperous black community in Detroit.
A California Sheriff Remains Free To Rob Armored Cars Carrying Money From State-Licensed Marijuana Businesses
A federal judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order, saying the evidence of legal violations is insufficient at this point.
The EPA Has Spent 15 Years Blocking This Couple From Building a Home. Will the Supreme Court Come to the Rescue?
Michael and Chantell Sackett say they shouldn't have to spend years—and hundreds of thousands of dollars—just getting permission to build on their suburban lot.
Supreme Court Grants Certiorari to Clarify the Scope of Federal Regulatory Jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act
The Sacketts get a return trip to the Supreme Court.
Kansas and California Cops Used Civil Forfeiture to Stage Armored Car Heists, Stealing Money Earned by Licensed Marijuana Businesses
The Institute for Justice argues that the seizures violated state law, federal law, and the U.S. Constitution.
Backyard Chickens Make Headway in Iowa, Stall Out in New York
Fowl regulations are improving in some places, ruffling feathers in others.
My New Article on "How Judicial Review Can Help Empower People to Vote with Their Feet"
The article challenges longstanding conventional wisdom claiming that judicial review of democratically enacted laws is at odds with popular political choice.
She Got Her Car Back 6 Years After Police Seized It
Malinda Harris’ ordeal shows how easily the government can take innocent people’s property under civil forfeiture laws.
One of the Country's Last Eviction Moratoriums Is Struck Down
Plus: Quarantine requirements for international travelers, Fed Chair Jerome Powell says it's time to stop calling inflation "transitory," and more...
Federal Court Rules Takings Clause May Require Compensation when Police Destroy an Innocent Person's Home in Process of Pursuing a Suspect
The decision is at odds with rulings by some other federal courts, and could end up setting an important precedent.
Private Property Rights Made the First Thanksgiving Possible
Something to be grateful for.
After the DEA Stole $70,000 From This Filmmaker, He Got His Money Back, Plus a $15,000 Settlement
Keddins Etienne's experience shows that bullies who seize innocent people's property tend to back down when their victims put up a fight.
The Seizure and Eventual Return of Bruce's Beach Shows That Property Rights Are Human Rights
The land was taken in 1924 in order to kick a black family out of Manhattan Beach, California.
Boston Officials Want to Know if You Think This Dilapidated Shack Is Historically Significant
The city's solicitation of public input on the demolition of shacks, sheds, and boarded up homes is an invitation for NIMBYism.
Georgia City Sued Over Ban on Tiny Houses, Small Cottages
Requiring that homes and apartments be a minimum size is a major driver of high housing costs. A new lawsuit from a nonprofit developer argues those rules are also unconstitutional.
San Francisco Wants To Sell the Air Rights Above City Hall for $45 Million. Why Not Give Them Away for Free?
The tradable development rights the city has in its possession are only made valuable by its insane restrictions on new development.
In a New Survey, Victims of Philadelphia's Forfeiture Racket Highlight the Hazards of Giving Cops a License To Steal
"What they're doing is like robbery," observed one property owner.
Abbott's Vaccine Order Is Just as Oppressive as Biden's
Neither politician is willing to tolerate deviation from the one business policy he thinks is best.
Although the State of Kansas Admits This Guy Is Innocent, It Still Wants To Destroy His 1959 Corvette
Richard Martinez lost his dream car because of VIN-plate issues prosecutors admit he was "not aware of."
What If the Supreme Court Corrected an Error and No One Noticed?
Adam Liptak reports on a Supreme Court typo that was quickly fixed, but lives on nonetheless.
Sixth Circuit Concludes Local Tree Ordinance Constitutes an Unconstitutional Taking
Court finds that a Canton, Michigan ordinance requiring mitigation for tree removal constitutes an uncompensated taking.
The Eviction Tsunami That Wasn't
A month after the Supreme Court struck down the CDC's eviction moratorium, eviction filings remain well below pre-pandemic averages.
California Returns Beach Property Wrongly Taken From Black Family via Eminent Domain
The government confiscated Bruce's Beach at racists' behest.
How the CDC Became America's Landlord
Pandemic bans on evictions were supposed to be a temporary measure, but politicians keep extending them.
Seattle City Council Passes Rent Control by Another Name. Is It Legal?
New bills passed earlier this week require landlords to give tenants 180 days' notice before raising rents and pay relocation expenses to low-income tenants who move in response to rent hikes.
Berliners Endorse Creative New Housing Affordability Plan: Steal Buildings From Private Owners
The nonbinding ballot initiative encourages the city government to expropriate roughly 15 percent of the city's rental housing stock.
PennEast Abandons Plans to Use Eminent Domain to Seize State-Owned Land in Case that Resulted in a Major Supreme Court Decision
The case was the subject of a Supreme Court ruling in which the power of eminent domain prevailed over state sovereign immunity.
Two More Worthy Additions to the "Anticanon" of Constitutional Law - Berman v. Parker and Euclid v. Ambler Realty
Second in a series of posts on historically awful Supreme Court decisions that deserve more opprobrium than they get.
Terrible Supreme Court Decisions that Should be Added to the "Anticanon" of Constitutional Law - Part I
Constitution Day is a good time to consider the issue of whether we have been overly accepting of some horrendous Supreme Court precedents. The Chinese Exclusion Case of 1889 is a great example.
California Enacts Two Important New Zoning Reform Laws
Senate Bill 9 and Senate Bill 10 would make it easier to build new housing in much of the state.
Biden Keeps Pushing Dubious Arguments for CDC Supremacy
The president seems determined to anoint the agency’s director as the nation’s COVID-19 dictator, no matter what the law says.
