Law Commons^™

Living With Owning, Matt Ampleman, Douglas A. Kysar

Indiana Law Journal

In October, 2011, Terry Thompson committed suicide by gunshot after cutting open the cages of fifty-six exotic animals on his farm in Zanesville, Ohio. Fearing for pub-lic safety, law enforcement officers systematically hunted down the escaped animals in an episode that garnered international attention and prompted renewed discus-sion of the propriety of exotic animal ownership. This Article retells and discusses the circumstances surrounding Terry Thompson’s unhinging, applying frameworks of legal theory, chiefly in the realm of property law, to assess the fabric that held Thompson’s delicate system together and the tensions that led to its unravelling. As an autopsy, the …

Public Trust Doctrine Implications Of Electricity Production, Lance Noel, Jeremy Firestone

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

The public trust doctrine is a powerful legal tool in property law that requires the sovereign, as a trustee, to protect and manage natural resources. Historically, the public trust doctrine has been used in relationship to navigable waterways and wildlife management. Despite electricity production’s impact on those two areas and the comparatively smaller impacts of renewable energy, electricity production has garnered very little public trust doctrine attention. This Article examines how electricity production implicates the public trust doctrine, primarily through the lens of four states—California, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and New Jersey—and how it would potentially apply to each state’s electricity planning …

Property Law—Upending The Familiar Tools Of Estate Planning: Equity Renders Revocable Trusts Subject To The Arkansas Spousal Election. In Re Estate Of Thompson, 2014 Ark. 237, 434 S.W.3d 877., Lucy L. Holifield

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Politics Of The Takings Clauses, Mila Versteeg

Northwestern University Law Review

A long-standing consensus exists that the arbitrary or excessive expropriation of private property by a country hurts its economic growth. Although constitutions can play an important role in protecting private property, remarkably little is known about how they actually restrict the power of eminent domain and whether such restrictions are associated with reduced de facto expropriation risks. This Essay fills that gap by presenting original data on the procedural and substantive protections in constitutional takings clauses from 1946 to 2013. Its main finding is that no observable relationship exists between de jure constitutional restrictions on the power of eminent domain …

The Spatial: A Forgotten Dimension Of Property, Paul Babie

San Diego Law Review

This Article explores, such a spatial turn in the case of property theory requires further elaboration and exploration. First, analytically, the spatial turn can be used to reassemble what we already know about property to recognize expressly the spatial dimension of property, thus revealing what has always been there but which has rarely been named and discussed: property emerges from, exists in, and is replicated through space. Second, and equally important, normatively, revealing the spatial dimension adds context to the social understanding of property and thereby allows us to see and encourage further exploration of the role of property as …

Rejection Of Nonresidential Leases Of Real Property In Bankruptcy: What Happens To The Mortgagee's Security Interest? , William E. Winfield

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Standardization And Pluralism In Property Law, Nestor M. Davidson

Vanderbilt Law Review

At the heart of contemporary property theory stands an intriguing puzzle. Unlike the relatively unconstrained freedom that contract law provides for private ordering, property law recognizes only a limited and standard list of mandatory forms. This standardization-known as the numerus clausus from the civil law concept that the "number is closed"-poses a basic conundrum: what can explain a persistent feature of the law that seems, at first glance, so clearly to restrict the autonomy and efficiency gains conventionally associated with private property?

This puzzle has garnered significant scholarly attention in recent years. Some scholars have argued that standardization, although paternalistic, …

The Policy Power And "Pubic Use": Balancing The Public Interest Against Private Rights Through Principled Constitutional Distinctions, Christopher Supino

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Colorado Hb 1061 And Advocating For The End Of Caveat Emptor In Residential Leases, David I. Blower

University of Colorado Law Review

In 2005, Governor Bill Owens vetoed House Bill 1061, which was an attempt by the Colorado legislature to enact some minimal protections for residential tenants. Governor Owens's veto was the latest chapter in Colorado's failure to provide residential-tenant protections. Although the vast majority of states have either judicially-implied or statutory tenant protections, Colorado has bucked the trend. First, in 1976, the Colorado Supreme Court refused to imply a warranty of habitability in residential leases, instead deferring to the legislature. Since then, in addition to Governor Owens's veto, the legislature has also failed to pass a residential warranty. Instead of maintaining …

Property: Creating A Slayer Statute Oklahomans Can Live With, Gregory C. Blackwell

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

On Redefining The Boundaries Of Animal Ownership: Burdens And Benefits Of Evidencing Animals' Personalities, Geordie Duckler

Animal Law Review

Were animals as personalty appreciated in their fundamental distinctions from other personal properties, the law might be able to fashion a more sophisticated set of legal responsibilities for, and rewards of, such ownership. As evidence doctrines on character and propensity expand and contract to address boundaries for these concepts, a fuller potential for property law may be effectively promoted as a result.

Finding More Pieces For The Takings Puzzle: How Correcting History Can Clarify Doctrine, David A. Thomas

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Law Of Last Resort, Barry E. Adler

Vanderbilt Law Review

A financially distressed individual or corporation employs the bankruptcy process only as a last resort. The study of bankruptcy law, however, need not, and should not, be an afterthought. The traditional bodies of law that compose private ordering are the laws of property, contract, and tort. Property law establishes private entitlements that can be specifically enforced against the world. Contract law permits individuals to exchange obligations and thus invest one another with entitlements. Tort law creates its own set of entitlements and imposes liability for unwanted interference with those or other entitlements. These bodies of law are often presented as …

Scope Of Due Diligence Investigation In Obtaining Title To Valuable Artwork, Marilyn E. Phelan

Seattle University Law Review

This Article will explore the concept of "due diligence investigation" for valuable art objects and the considerations that properly frame the scope of such an examination. The Article represents that because, as between a dispossessed owner and a good faith purchaser of artworks, equities are balanced in favor of the dispossessed owner, current law has imposed a higher standard of diligence on the purchaser. Thus, the Article will underscore the need for purchasers and collectors to conduct appropriate and comprehensive investigations into title of artworks they acquire or already possess and will demonstrate that a due diligence investigation is the …

A Casebook For Teaching Teachers: Jesse Dukeminier And James E. Krier, Property, Daniel B. Bogart

Seattle University Law Review

This essay will evaluate the Dukeminier and Krier Property casebook from this perspective: just how good a text is it for teaching new law teachers? The answer, it seems to me, is that their book is very well suited to this goal. Given that I have used the Dukeminier and Krier casebook (D&K casebook) for nine years now, my answer should not surprise the reader. Indeed, I think it is this aspect of the book (and perhaps a general inclination of teachers not to fix what ain't broke) that accounts for the extraordinary loyalty that many professors give to this …

Property In Context, Craig J. Albert

Seattle University Law Review

Now that Property has shrunk in most law schools to a single semester of three or four credit hours, Professors J. Gordon Hylton, David L. Callies, Daniel R. Mandelker, and my colleague, Paula A. Franzese, offer a new casebook, Property Law and the Public Interest to respond to the new environment.

Why Isn't This Man Smiling?, John W. Weaver

Seattle University Law Review

The books reviewed in this article represent five of the seventeen property casebooks in general circulation. These nine reviews of five books also demonstrate one of the continuing tensions for Property teachers. Property teachers not only face the usual problem of coverage versus depth (exacerbated by the cut in hours), but we also have the problem that Gertrude Stein posed for Oakland-that it sometimes seems as if there is no there.

How Do Law Students Really Learn? Problem-Solving, Modern Pragmatism, And Property Law, Craig Anthony Arnold

Seattle University Law Review

Edward Rabin and Roberta Kwall had student learning in mind when they wrote Fundamentals of Modern Real Property Law. Rabin and Kwall's casebook is an attractive and effective road map for students as they journey through a course (and a body of legal principles and issues) that typically intimidates many law students in virtually every law school.

The Old Chestnut Explored: Thoughts About The Survival Of Casner's Cases And Text On Property Long Past Its Prime, Barry Brown

Seattle University Law Review

The pedagogy of the Casner text-now often imitated-assumes a fractional approach to private property. The Hohfeldian bundle of rights rational for allocation and justification of property interests did not begin with Casner or Leach, but the fact that the first edition of the book bearing the combined authors' names appeared in 1947 and has been in continuous use since that time is a testament to the insight of its writers and to its timelessness. That the structure and themes of the text have been followed in a host of casebooks is, no doubt, the sincerest form of flattery

Q: Why Is This Course Different From All Other Courses? A: Maybe It's Not, Louise A. Halper

Seattle University Law Review

The authors’ claim is to a unique recognition of (1) “the interplay of common law, statutory and constitutional regimes,”(2) “the growing significance of non-land forms of property,” (3) “the emergence of environmental values,” and (4) “the central importance of public policy analysis to resolution of complex social problems.” This is certainly an approach that can benefit the first-year Property teacher whose course is set in a semester that may also contain courses focusing on positive law, like Civil Procedure, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, or Criminal Procedure, as mine does.

Review: The Essence Of Property Law, Vada Waters Lindsey

Seattle University Law Review

Part II of this essay will outline my overall approach to teaching Property and the inherent challenges of the subject. Part III sets out the topics covered in my property classes and the relevance of the “bundle of rights” concept. Part IV describes my use of the problem method in teaching Property and counters the purported disadvantages of applying that method. That part also demonstrates the practical use of the problem approach. Part V examines the evolutionary nature of property law and looks at three areas of law: landlord and tenant relationships, the law of servitudes, and future interests.

Review Of Jesse Dukeminier And James E. Krier, Property (4th Edition 1998), Andrew P. Morriss

Seattle University Law Review

In this review, I will concentrate on two perspectives on the book. I first taught Property in the spring 1998 semester (using the third edition of Dukeminier and Krier) and am (as I write this) about to begin my second year of teaching the course. I can thus give the perspective of a new teacher of the subject. In addition, I am an economist as well as a lawyer and am deeply fascinated by legal history. I try to bring both law and economics and historical perspectives to my teaching. I therefore offer an evaluation of the book with respect …

A Walk Through The Woods Of The Property Course With Dukeminier And Krier's Casebook On Property, Charles I. Nelson

Seattle University Law Review

This casebook is organized along three main themes even though it has five major parts. The first two parts seem to me to focus on relative rights in property. The third part discusses transfer of property interests and assurances of title and the fourth discusses regulation of land use by private and public means. The majority of this essay will look at those themes and how they play out in the casebook and in my course. In the latter part of the essay, I will discuss some of the things I find most engaging about the book and why I …

The Perfect Blend Of Methodology, Doctrine & Theory, Peter T. Wendel

Seattle University Law Review

In light of the market's overall approval of the casebook, what follows can only be described as but one professor's views on why the Dukeminier and Krier property book works so well for so many and on where it does not work as well as it could.

The Nexus Of Federal And State Law In Railroad Abandonments, Marc A. Sennewald

Vanderbilt Law Review

The United States Congress embarked on a new era in the regulation of interstate commerce when it created the Interstate Commerce Commission ("ICC") in 1887 to regulate railroad traffic.' A major purpose of the ICC regulatory framework, as amended by the Transportation Act of 1920, was to preempt actions by state and local authorities that prevented railroads from abandoning unprofitable lines. When Congress passed the Transportation Act, 252,588 miles of track criss-crossed the United States; by 1990 the number of rail- way miles had decreased by almost half.

Although the relative ease with which railroads abandoned unprofitable lines augmented their …

Protecting Property Rights With Strict Scrutiny: An Argument For The "Specifically And Uniquely Attributable" Standard , Daniel Williams Russo

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article analyzes three levels of scrutiny states have applied to regulatory takings cases. These include 'judicial deterrence", "rational nexus", and "specifically and uniquely attributable". The author argues that the first two standards are inefficient and concludes in favor of the "specifically and uniquely attributable" standard.

Harmful Use And The Takings Clause In The Eye Of The Beholder: Lucas V. South Carolina Coastal Council, Charles H. Clarke

Cleveland State Law Review

Whichever of these two possibilities prevails, both possibilities require the courts to perform essentially legislative functions regardless, in other words, of whether public ecological resources receive insufficient or ample protection from private enterprise that wants to consume them. The traditional Takings Clause precedents, on the other hand, would give public ecological resources and private property ample protection with minimum judicial oversight. The traditional position seems preferable for this reason.

Refining The Itemized Deduction For Home Property Tax Payments, J. B. Mccombs

Vanderbilt Law Review

By enacting a $1 million debt limit for deductible home mortgage interest in 1987,' Congress opened the way for a fresh inquiry into the home property tax deduction. Adoption of that debt limit reflects a major change in policy-a re-evaluation of the benefits and costs of subsidies to luxury housing.

At first glance a $1 million limit seems ridiculously high if the debt ceiling reflects a decision to stop subsidizing luxury housing. The debt ceiling, however, does not contain an inflation adjustment provision. Because such provisions are common in the Internal Revenue Code, the absence here must be by conscious …

The Law Of Easements And Licenses In Land: Book Review, R. H. Helmholz

Vanderbilt Law Review

A distinguished commentator, Professor A.W.B. Simpson, recently observed that the legal treatise seems to be going the way of the dinosaur and the dodo bird.' To him, and indeed to other thoughtful ob-servers, the treatise's characteristic form appears to have outlived its natural span, or at least lost its reason for existence among serious academic writers. The treatise's focus on a particular and specialized area of the law and its inevitable concentration on the doctrinal analysis of appellate cases now appear quite out of date to these observers, something perhaps worthwhile in a simpler and more complacent era, but which …

How To Do A Perpetuities Problem, John Makdisi

Cleveland State Law Review

The most difficult aspect of the rule against perpetuities is figuring out a sure-fire way to determine whether an interest created in a conveyance is valid or invalid. The meaning of the rule itself is not hard to fathom. Whenever the interest might vest too remotely it is invalid, and it becomes possible to vest remotely if there is a chance that it could vest more than twenty-one years after everyone alive at the time of the conveyance has died. Whether the interest violates the rule against perpetuities is determined at the moment the conveyance creating the interest becomes effective. …