Russia Ordered to Pay Owners of Demolished Buildings
Russia must pay damages to a couple whose property was confiscated and demolished to make way for a municipal building, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday.
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taking
Judge Denies Relief for Downstream Houston Flood Victims
A federal judge dismissed the claims of Houston residents seeking to hold the government liable for flooding their homes with Hurricane Harvey storm water released from two dams, finding there is no constitutional right to “perfect flood control.”
Read moreCharter Schools
The Lake Ridge and Hammond school districts sued Indiana, claiming its law on “the sale or lease of school property for one dollar ($1.00) or not more than the minimum bid” to charter schools is an unconstitutional taking, in Lake County Court.
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Army Corps Found Liable for Upstream Houston Floods
The government is liable for flooding Houston homes with Hurricane Harvey runoff that backed up behind two dams, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, rejecting claims the risk was clearly laid out in public documents years before the storm hit.
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Downstream Houston Flood Victims Want Uncle Sam to Pay Up
Property owners argued in the Houston federal courthouse Wednesday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers knew it would flood downstream homes and businesses when it released water from two dams in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
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No Relief for Family Whose Home Was Destroyed in Police Raid
Affirming summary judgment, the 10th Circuit ruled Tuesday that a Colorado family is not entitled to compensation after a 19-hour standoff between police and a shoplifter left their home uninhabitable.
Read moreTrial Over Hurricane Flooding in Houston Wraps Up
Is it inevitable that another massive storm like Hurricane Harvey will bring disastrous flooding to Houston? Seeking to avoid government liability for home flooding caused by two Houston-area dams retaining runoff from the historic deluge, a Justice Department attorney argued Friday the probability of another Harvey is “incredibly low.”
Read moreFlood Control Takings Claim
The federal government must face Louisiana landowners’ claims relating to land the Army Corps of Engineers took after Hurricane Katrina, a federal court ruled. The landowners claim the government took their property without compensation by altering shoreline along Lake Pontchartrain to improve the flood control system for New Orleans.
Read moreSupreme Court Paves Route to Sue Over Cemetery Law
Town officials who traipsed on a Pennsylvania woman’s land, hunting for unmarked graves, could be on the hook for federal damages, the Supreme Court ruled Friday.
Read moreTestimony Wraps in Trial Over Hurricane Harvey Flooding
For 13 years Eleonora Slovokhotova knew nothing of the danger lurking in her suburban Houston neighborhood, which she describes as “a wonderful area, golf courses and happy smiling faces.” The intruder stole softly into living rooms one night in August 2017 after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closed the gates on two dams amid historic flooding.
Read moreFeds On Trial Over Flooding From Hurricane Harvey
The Houston home Carl and Cynthia Miller bought in 1988 sits empty, stripped to the studs. The neighborhood was once inhabited by close-knit homeowners who watched out for each other’s kids. Hurricane Harvey washed out the kinship and brought in a tide of renters.
Read moreProperty
The Court of Federal Claims dismissed a complaint by cattle ranch owners about military flyovers, as flyovers are not a taking for which the ranchers can be compensated.
Read moreOhio Fracking Laws Contested in Sixth Circuit
Several Ohio landowners argued before a Sixth Circuit panel Thursday that a mining company’s fracking operation under their property is unconstitutional, seeking to revive federal claims against the company and the Buckeye State.
Read moreSupreme Court Gets Digging in Pennsylvania Cemetery Case
A Pennsylvania town whose grave-hunting law brought it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court urged the justices Wednesday to shut the door on one angry local who tried to bypass state procedures with a federal takings suit.
Read moreMichigan Residents Lose Fight Over Sewage Rule
A Sixth Circuit panel declined Thursday to revive federal takings claims brought by Ann Arbor residents who were required to install sump pumps in their homes after the city experienced sewage overflow problems.
Read morePanel Offers Little Hope to Michigan Residents in Sewage Case
A Michigan city’s ordinance that required some residents to connect their home’s drainage systems to the municipal storm-sewer system and install sump pumps was challenged Wednesday as unconstitutional before a Sixth Circuit panel that appeared unlikely to rule in their favor.
Read morePublic Interest of Pipeline Takes Focus in Damages Spat
The Third Circuit appeared critical Wednesday that a Kinder Morgan subsidiary should rely on federal law to pay less than fair-market value for land it seized via eminent domain to build an interstate pipeline.
Read moreWisconsin High Court Clears City in Billboard Spat
The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed an appeals court ruling that the city of Madison does not have to compensate an advertising firm for building a bridge that obstructed the view of one side of its billboard.
Read moreWisconsinites Lose Land Case Involving Trump-Backed Plant
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit related to a $10 billion electronics manufacturing factory touted by President Donald Trump over the objections of Wisconsin residents who said a development agreement between their city and Foxconn Technology Group unlawfully takes their property.
Read moreWisconsin Justices Hear Billboard Property-Rights Case
The Wisconsin Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a case centered on whether a city’s placement of a bridge that blocks the view of a billboard amounts to an illegal taking of property.
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