39 results for 'cat:"Constitution" AND cat:"Property"'.
J. Surrick grants the treasurer of Pennsylvania’s motion to dismiss a class action suit alleging that Pennsylvania’s Disposition of Abandoned and Unclaimed Property Act, wherein the state treasurer takes custody of certain property deemed “abandoned and unclaimed,” violates the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The government does not need to compensate an owner for the consequences of their own neglect.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Surrick, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv1852, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, Government, property
[Consolidated.] J. Jackson-Akiwumi finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of inciting a riot in Champaign, Illinois during the weekend of unrest following the police murder of George Floyd. The panel declined to revisit the Seventh Circuit's 1972 decision in U.S. v. Dellinger upholding the Anti-Riot Act as constitutional under the First Amendment. Further, the offense is covered by the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act as an "offense against property." However, the government failed to meet its burden of showing that defendant directly caused all damages to businesses in the restitution order, so the lower court must revisit its $1.6 million restitution order. Affirmed in part.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Jackson-Akiwumi, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 21-2572, Categories: constitution, Restitution, property Crimes
J. St. Eve finds that the lower court properly dismissed an Indiana citizen's Takings Clause claim based on the state's failure to pay interest accrued on property while it was in state custody. The specific relief sought in this case is now moot, as Indiana has since passed a law requiring payment of interest on all property recovered under the Revised Indiana Unclaimed Property Act. Further, the citizen cannot seek compensation in federal court from Indiana official defendants due to Eleventh Amendment immunity. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: St. Eve, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 23-1792, Categories: constitution, property, Immunity
J. Eaton finds the environmental division properly imposed contempt sanctions in this zoning enforcement action for a landowner to remove unpermitted structures on his property. The landowner argues the enforcement order the wrongful contempt sanctions assigned were a violation of the excessive fines clause of the U.S. Constitution as was his arrest in order for the town to remove the structures. He failed to raise the argument regarding the violation by his own choice giving him no right to review now. The contempt sanction fines imposed are entitled to the town for full enforcement.
Court: Vermont Supreme Court, Judge: Eaton, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 23-AP-231, Categories: constitution, property, Sanctions
J. Southwick finds the district court properly held a mineral lease is not yet in effect such that the developer has standing to pursue constitutional takings claims against the parish. The clear text of the lease shows the developer has not secured necessary governmental approvals. Therefore, the developer has no vested interest in the property at question or its clay deposits. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Southwick , Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 23-30084, Categories: constitution, Energy, property
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J. Knepp grants the village's motion to dismiss, ruling the unlawful takings claim filed by the quarry owner must be dismissed for failure to state a claim. The owner fails to identify a property interest other than the property itself, which the owner concedes it will be compensated for through appropriation proceedings.
Court: USDC Northern District of Ohio, Judge: Knepp, Filed On: February 12, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv2282, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, Government, property
J. Lamberth grants, in part, a group of residents' motion to compel in their takings case against the district concerning the police department's seizure of their property for use as evidence in cases in which they were not the defendants. The residents' request for access to the department's property logbooks is granted, with modifications, as the information they are seeking is relevant to their case.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Lamberth, Filed On: January 11, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv2930, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, property, Discovery
J. Dever denies an investment firm’s motion to remand this suit to a lower court in its attempt to prevent Wells Fargo and a trustee corporation from foreclosing a second time on a property the firm had purchased. The firm was unaware of a lien from 2006 owned by Wells Fargo when it bought the property and requested purchase of a note that would resolve the lien. Wells Fargo responded by initiating a second foreclosure sale, to which the firm responded by suing the bank. Wells Fargo correctly argues that the suit cannot be remanded because the trustee corporation is located in Florida and, therefore, diversity jurisdiction exists.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 7:23cv1232, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: constitution, property, Jurisdiction
J. Conley finds for the federal government in a lawsuit from property owners claiming that trees on their property have been damaged by road salt running off from a neighboring VA medical center. The property owners have failed to bring sufficient evidence to support their takings and private nuisance claims such that a reasonable jury could determine the VA center's salt storage is responsible for the damage to their trees, so the government's motion for summary judgment is granted.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv395, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: constitution, property, Tort
J. Lange grants the South Dakota Supreme Court's several motions to dismiss a matter concerning the resolution of a land dispute of a family ranch. Having lost every prior case on the matter, one ranch partial owner alleged constitutional errors and fraud in the prior litigation. The South Dakota Supreme Court wrote that the owner filed the lawsuit for the purposes of preventing sale of the property, not because he believed his partnership interest remained enforceable. The history of litigation combined with the absence of merit of the claims justifies an award of attorney fees and the matters are dismissed.
Court: USDC South Dakota, Judge: Lange, Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 4:23cv4118, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, property
J. King finds the district court improperly allowed the Texas residents to seek prospective relief against state employees involved in the state's taking of their unclaimed property. The residents have not demonstrated standing to seek prospective relief and have not met their burden to proceed with constitutional claims under the immunity exception. Reversed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: King , Filed On: November 16, 2023, Case #: 22-50828, Categories: constitution, property, Immunity
J. Kloppenburg finds the circuit court properly found for the city in a dispute with a California-based property owner over an order to raze a building on his Wisconsin property within 30 days because of its dangerous state of disrepair. The property owner has failed to bring evidence of disputed facts such that he is entitled to a jury trial, did not have his Fourth Amendment rights violated by a warrant for a special inspection of the building that was executed according to applicable law, and did not have a statutory right to attempt to repair the building instead of razing it because the cost of repairs would have exceeded 50% of the building's value. The circuit court's order granting summary judgment to the city and allowing the building to be razed at the property owner's expense stands. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Kloppenburg, Filed On: November 2, 2023, Case #: 2022AP001683, Categories: constitution, Government, property
J. Peterson denies Enbridge's motion to reopen and intervene in a lawsuit between the property owners and the city over the city's desire to use a driveway on their private property as a public road, which ultimately ended in a settlement with the property owners granting the city a limited easement to use the driveway to access a neighboring property. Though Enbridge claims it needs full public access to the driveway in order to reroute an oil and natural gas pipeline over the neighboring property, it has not proven it has a right to intervene and force the lawsuit to be reopened because its knowledge of the underlying lawsuit and settlement makes its intervention untimely and the prejudice to the property owners and city in reopening the settled lawsuit outweighs any prejudice to Enbridge, and its state-law claims are better suited for a separate state-level action.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: September 25, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv409, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, property, Contract
J. Williams grants a school district partial dismissal of claims brought after plaintiff was prohibited from appearing upon district premises due to his frequent protests of Covid-19 policies during school board meetings because plaintiff exhibited threatening behavior by attempting to force a vote on the masking policy and stating, "If you don’t, we’re comin'," before chanting "take a vote" with other attendees.
Court: USDC Northern District of Iowa, Judge: Williams, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv33, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, Education, property
J. Higginson finds the district court improperly denied the landlord's request to have the magistrate referral vacated after a judgment of over $200 million was rendered in favor of the commercial tenant in a longstanding dispute regarding the potential development of an export grain terminal on the tenant's lot. The landlord learned that the judge was longtime family friends with the tenant's lead trial lawyer after the judgment was entered. Both parties consented to the referral, but the asserted facts regarding who knew what and when raise serious doubts about the validity of the harbor's constitutionally essential consent to have its case tried by this judge. Vacated.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Higginson , Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 22-30398, Categories: constitution, Judiciary, property
J. Griggsby grants in part a police officer's motion to dismiss allegations of constitutional violations brought by a documentarian when the officer arrested him after instructing him to leave the private property of a chicken farm. The documentarian, who was filming the farm in an area he believed to be public property, said, "Let's go and arrest me" after the officer ordered him to leave. A "no trespassing" sign was posted near where he was filming, and because of previous protests against the farm, the officer was familiar with the private property designations. The documentarian refused to give his identification or to leave the property and so was arrested. The officer did not engage in any egregious behavior.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Griggsby, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv815, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, property
J. Rambin finds that the trial court properly dismissed the suit filed by the residents of a city's extra-territorial jurisdiction, in which they "bring a facial constitutional challenge to the city's ability to regulate private property outside of its territorial borders." The issue raised by the residents is a "nonjusticiable political question" that cannot be addressed "without violating the separation of powers." Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Rambin, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 06-22-00078-CV, Categories: constitution, Municipal Law, property
J. Colloton finds a lower court properly dismissed a mineral company's claims against the State of North Dakota. The mineral company argued that the State engaged in unlawful taking of its mineral rights without compensation, in violation of the Fifth Amendment. However, the State presented sufficient evidence in court that it acquired ownership in 1889 without taking. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Colloton, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: 22-2159, Categories: constitution, Government, property
J. Trauger grants the dismissal motions filed by the town and the county defendants in this lawsuit alleging that a home was damaged during the execution of an arrest warrant, specifically when cannisters of tear gas were fired into the house. The owners contend that the house had to be taken "down to the studs to repair the damage," and they now claim that they are due "just compensation" under the Fifth Amendment and Section 1983. However, the police officers' actions were "a valid use of their police power," and they did not constitute a taking under the Fifth Amendment.
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Trauger, Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv57, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, property, Damages
J. Olguin dismisses the property owner’s claim that the California Coastal Commission wrongfully denied his coastal development permit (CDP) application without an access in-lieu fee, which the owner claims is unconstitutional because there is not a reasonable connection between public beach access needs and the impact of the owner’s pool project. The owner waived the right to make a constitutional claim when he did not raise the issue before the commission. Also, the commission is carrying out the state court's mandate on remand when it grants the CDP subject to the in-lieu fee, so only the state courts have the power to review if the commission is complying with the state court's remand order.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Olguin, Filed On: August 13, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv4668, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, property, Jurisdiction
J. Conley finds for the county in a lawsuit from property owners bringing claims over the installation of three stormwater retention ponds directly across from their farmland which they say caused water to pool on their land and negatively impact their growing seasons. In part because the property owners have no admissible evidence that the county intended to flood their farmland or could have reasonably foreseen that installing the retention ponds would cause that to happen, their takings claims under the Fifth Amendment and the Wisconsin Constitution fail. The county's motion for summary judgment is granted as to the takings claims, and the property owners' state-law nuisance claim is remanded to the circuit court.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: July 19, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv198, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, constitution, property
J. Du grants the county’s motion to dismiss the short-term vacation rental property owner and operator’s suit alleging that his property was wrongly made subject to new permit regulations for parking, noise, trash and occupancy, as well as defining unpermitted properties as a public nuisance. The county is not a “person” under the relevant statute, and though the county’s order to cancel bookings and remove property listings was disruptive, the action doesn’t amount to a substantial impairment under the contracts clauses of the U.S. and Nevada constitutions.
Court: USDC Nevada, Judge: Du, Filed On: July 12, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv29, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: constitution, property, Contract
J. Dries finds in favor of the village in a lawsuit from two property owners claiming violations of their constitutional rights because the village required them to apply for a conditional use permit to develop their property under current zoning conditions, a process the property owners claim is futile and based in part on malice from a village board member with whom they previously had business dealings. The property owners' takings, equal protection and due process claims all fail because they are either unsupported by the evidence or unripe, in part because the property owners have not applied for the conditional use permit they insist will be rejected. The property owners' claim for punitive damages also fails because they have not brought any strong evidence of personal animus on behalf of the board member. The village and board member's motion for summary judgment is granted and the case is dismissed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Dries, Filed On: July 11, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv544, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: constitution, property, Zoning
[Consolidated.] J. Wilkins reverses the district court's finding for a group of casinos that challenged a compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the state of Florida that will allow the tribe to offer online sports betting throughout the state. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act authorizes a tribe to conduct gaming on its own lands, but does not prohibit a compact from discussing gaming topics that occur outside tribal lands. Reversed.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Wilkins, Filed On: June 30, 2023, Case #: 21-5265 , Categories: constitution, property