Los Angeles Times, E&E News, Law360, Watts Up With That? | Supreme Court Bolsters Rights for Developers and Property Owners in California and Elsewhere

The U.S. Supreme Court held that natural gas companies holding a Section 717f(e) certificate have the power to condemn state-owned land under the Natural Gas Act. Our Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources Group discusses the decision and what it means to the pipeline industry. 

Susan Hurd is quoted on the U.S. Supreme Court decision placing limits on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s practice of forcing defendants to surrender profits obtained through fraud.

The takings clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution bars uncompensated takings of private property. If, say, a state or local government takes property without providing just compensation, the owner has a federal taking claim — and, presumably, has the right to take his case to federal court. But until the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Knick v. Township of Scott, the owner had no such right: Astonishingly, a federal takings claimant was effectively barred from federal court. How could that be?

The Supreme Court takes down another long-standing precedent with a decision that could expose local and state government attempts at environmental regulation to greater liability in federal courts. Our Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources Group excavates the implications of a case that began as a small town’s code enforcement action against a family cemetery and ended up transforming property rights nationwide.

Kevin Minoli is quoted on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear a case involving the Clean Water Act.