Law Commons^™

Newsroom: New York Times: Teitz On Touro Synagogue 5-16-2016, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Horizons At Seven Hills V. Ikon Holdings, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 35 (Apr. 28. 2016) (En Banc), Lena Rieke

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined that (1) a superpriority lien for common expense assessments pursuant to NRS 116.3116(2) does not include collection fees and foreclosure costs incurred by a homeowners’ association; and (2) a superpriority lien in a homeowners association’s covenants, conditions, and restrictions is superseded by NRS 116.3116(2).

Appraising 9/11: 'Sacred' Value And Heritage In Neoliberal Times, Mateo Taussig-Rubbo

Journal Articles

On September 11, 2001, United Airlines Flight 93 — one of the four airplanes hijacked that day — crashed into a vacant parcel of land in rural Pennsylvania, killing all on board. For many, including family members of those killed in the attack and the Park Service that now manages the national memorial at the site, the former strip mine was transformed into ‘sacred’ ground. Unable to settle on a price with the landowner, in 2009 the government took the property through eminent domain. Focusing on the ongoing effort in United States of America v. 275.81 Acres of Land to …

Taking The Oceanfront Lot, Josh Eagle

Faculty Publications

Oceanfront landowners and states share a property boundary located between the wet and dry parts of the shore. This legal coastline is different from an ordinary land boundary. First, on sandy beaches, the line is constantly in flux, and it cannot be marked except momentarily. Without the help of a surveyor and a court, neither the landowner nor a citizen walking down the beach has the ability to know exactly where the line lies. This uncertainty means that, as a practical matter, ownership of some part of the beach is effectively shared. Second, the common law establishes that the owner …

Conservation Easements And The Valuation Conundrum, Nancy Mclaughlin

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

For more than fifty years, taxpayers have been able to claim a federal charitable income tax deduction under Internal Revenue Code § 170(h) for the donation of a conservation easement or a façade easement. For just as long, the deduction has been subject to abuse, including valuation abuse. Dismayed by the expenditure of significant judicial and administrative resources to combat abuse in the easement donation context, the Treasury Department recently proposed reforms, including reforms to address valuation abuse. The reforms were proposed in somewhat of an analytical vacuum, however, because there has been no comprehensive analysis of the easement valuation …

The Horne Dilemma: Protecting Property's Richness And Frontiers, Lynda L. Butler

Faculty Publications

In a 2015 decision, the Supreme Court concluded that real and personal property should not be treated differently under the Takings Clause and that a government condition requiring raisin growers, in certain years, to reserve a percentage of their crop for the government to manage in noncompetitive venues was a per se physical taking. The decision to treat both real and personal property as equally worthy of protection under the Takings Clause has merit given the weak historical evidence suggesting stronger protection for land and the importance of personal property to income generation and capital development in a modern society. …

Trends In Green Leasing: From The Early Days To Today, Richard J. Sobelsohn

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Land Tenure And Sustainable Agriculture, Jesse Richardson

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Location, Location, Mis-Location: How Local Land Use Restrictions Are Dulling Halfway Housing's Criminal Rehabilitation Potentia, Michael J. Mcgowan

Student Scholarship

Part I of this Article begins with a brief historical explanation of halfway houses as a model of criminal rehabilitation. Part II addresses why recidivism rates provide the most appropriate metric gauging halfway houses' success and how they apparently have failed to improve recidivism rates. Part III then delves into the body of scholarship that explains how an individual's likelihood of landing back behind bars is to some extent demonstrably tied to their location, meaning their surrounding cultural, economic, and criminogenic environment. Part IV discusses the sparse data on the sorts of neighborhoods where halfway houses ultimately end up and …

Book Review: Earth Jurisprudence: Private Property And The Environment, F. Tim Knight

Librarian Publications & Presentations

No abstract provided.

Come And “Take” It: Whooping Cranes, Texas Water Rights, Endangered Species Act Liability, And Reconciling Ecological Scientific Testimony Within The Context Of Proximate Causation, Brett A. Miller

Student Scholarship

Tension between science and the law is a pervading feature of Endangered Species Act (ESA) jurisprudence. Incorporating the scientific discipline of ecology within the legal landscape presents distinct challenges, particularly in comparison with more traditional laboratory sciences. Within the realm of Endangered Species Act liability, the intricacies of nature exacerbate already complicated links of causation, challenging the ability to prove violations of the “take” prohibition. Because uncertainties permeate scientists’ ability to understand complex ecosystem processes, courts should rely on the overarching practicality of common law principles when reviewing ecological testimony.

When evaluating claims that allege violations of the “take” prohibition, …

Restitution For The Mistaken Improver Of Land, Alvin W. L. See

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The recent Malaysian case of Dream Property Sdn Bhd v Atlas Housing Sdn Bhd marks a rare occasion where an improver of another’s land is allowed to claim from the latter for the improvement. In a landmark judgment, the Federal Court of Malaysia recognised the right of recovery as based on the law of unjust enrichment, but curiously departed from certain well-established principles under common law which are less generous to the improver. The significance of this decision clearly lies in its contribution to the continuing endeavour to achieve an appropriate balance between the interests of the landowner and the …

Shadow Wood Homeowners Association, Inc.; And Gogo Way Trust V. New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (January 28, 2016), Andrea Orwoll

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court reviewed an appeal from a district court order granting summary judgment to a bank that had lost a condominium in an HOA lien foreclosure sale. The Court held that despite statutory provisions, which seem prohibit overturning an HOA lien foreclosure sale if required recitals are present in the HOA’s trustee deed, there remains a common law power to overturn such foreclosure sales. The Court reaffirmed the principle that, where appropriate, Nevada courts may “grant equitable relief from a defective HOA lien foreclosure sale”—but only when there has been both 1) an inadequate price paid, and 2) fraud or …

Southern Highlands V. San Florentine, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 3 (Jan. 14, 2016), Kristen Matteoni

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Under the plain language of NRS 116.3116(4), “equal priority” is given to multiple HOA liens on the same property when those liens secure unpaid HOA charges and dues. When one lienholder of equal priority forecloses, all other liens are terminated. Nonetheless, all equal priority lienholders share in the foreclosure profit by either being paid in full when able to do so or, if sale profit is inadequate, through a pro-rata share of the proceeds. Thus, because the Foothills and Southern Highlands have equal priority liens, Foothills’ foreclosure terminated Southern Highlands lien, however Southern Highlands is entitled its allotment of the …

Rerum Novarum: New Things And Recent Paradigms Of Property Law, M C. Mirow

Faculty Publications

The two most recent paradigmatic moments in the development of property law were the construction of "social property" about a hundred years ago and of "international property" quite recently. This study analyses two important texts as illustrations of these changes: Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891) and John Sprankling's book The International Law of Property (2014). Each text signals a paradigm shift in our understanding of property.

The Illusion Of Fiscal Illusion In Regulatory Takings, Bethany Berger

Faculty Articles and Papers

The main economic justification for compensating owners for losses from land use restrictions is based on a surprising mistake. Compensation is said to make governments internalize the costs of their actions and therefore enact more efficient regulations. Without compensation, the argument goes, governments operate under a fiscal illusion because, from their perspective, their actions are costless. The problem is that this argument makes no sense as a description of the actual costs to governments. Taxation is the main way governments get revenue, and most taxes depend on the value of property and its permissible uses. If a government restricts land …

Eviction Court And A Judicial Duty Of Inquiry, Harold Krent, Peter Cheung, Kayla Higgins, Matthew Mcelwee

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Gay Marriage And The Problem Of Property, Andrea B. Carroll, Christopher K. Odinet

Journal Articles

The Supreme Court's gay marriage decision in Obergefell has been hailed in almost all corners as a milestone in American jurisprudence. From topics as varied as adoption and taxes, a myriad of rights have now descended upon gay couples as a result of the Court's ruling. In this Commentary, we explore the little discussed downsides of the decision when it comes to the property rights and debts of the spouses. This is particularly important when considering the rights of third parties and their settled expectations in the context of retroactivity, as well the ways in which the Court's decision may …

Knowledge Commons (2016), Michael J. Madison, Katherine J. Strandburg, Brett M. Frischmann

Book Chapters

This chapter describes methods for systematically studying knowledge commons as an institutional mode of governance of knowledge and information resources, including references to adjacent but distinct approaches to research that looks primarily to the role(s) of intellectual property systems in institutional contexts concerning innovation and creativity.

Knowledge commons refers to an institutional approach (commons) to governing the production, use, management, and/or preservation of a particular type of resource (knowledge or information, including resources linked to innovative and creative practice). Commons refers to a form of community management or governance. It applies to a resource, and it involves a group or …

Our Supreme Court Tackles Greenhouse Gas Analysis In Eirs, Alan Ramo

Publications

No abstract provided.

Two New Case Developments In Landlord-Tenant Law, Myron Moskovitz

Publications

No abstract provided.

Using A Long Arm To Undo A Fraudulent Conveyance, Marc Greenberg

Publications

No abstract provided.

Foreclosure Of A Deed Of Trust In Virginia, Doug Rendleman

Scholarly Articles

This article deals with foreclosure of a deed of trust in Virginia. The Introduction discusses the deed of trust or mortgage as a social and political institution and the foreclosure crisis that seems to be ending. Part I is a brief history of mortgage law. It provides a short history of the modern mortgage system in the United States. Part II follows with a description of the approach that Virginia takes to mortgages. It localizes the mortgage institution to Virginia and introduces Virginia's vocabulary and technical details, the deed of trust, and the parties' rights and obligations. Part III provides …

Privacy As Quasi-Property, Lauren Henry Scholz

Scholarly Publications

Courts and commentators struggle to apply privacy law in a way that conforms to the intuitions of the average person. It is often assumed that the reason for this discrepancy is the absence of an agreed upon conceptual definition of privacy. In fact, the lack of a description of the interest invaded in a privacy matter is the more substantial hurdle. This Article provides such a description of the privacy interest.

Privacy is quasi-property. Quasi-property is a relational entitlement to exclude. Unlike real property, there is no freestanding right to exclude from a quasi-property interest absent reference to a relationship …

Dealing With Illegal Housing: What Can New York City Learn From Shenzhen?, Shitong Qiao

Faculty Scholarship

In New York City, owners violated zoning regulations and opened up their basements, garages, and other floors to rent to people (particularly low-income immigrants) priced out of the formal market. The more than 100,000 illegal dwelling units in New York City (NYC) were referred to as “granny units,” “illegal twos or threes,” or “accessory units.” Due to the safety and habitability considerations of “alter[ing] or modif[ying] of an existing building to create an additional housing unit without first obtaining approval from the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB),” the City government devoted a lot of resources to detecting and …

Fritz V. Washoe County, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 57 (Aug. 4, 2016), Jessie Folkestad

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

This case involved the question of whether a counties’ approval of subdivision maps and street dedications which included a drainage system constituted inverse condemnation where the plaintiff’s property flooded as a result. The Supreme Court of Nevada adopted a six part element test for inverse condemnation, and determined that genuine issues of material fact existed as to whether the County’s actions constituted substantial involvement in the drainage system sufficient to deem it public use.

The Strange Career Of Private Takings Of Private Property For Private Use, Jan G. Laitos

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Part I summarizes the two private entities thattraditionally have been conferred the power to take private property for their own private use: (1) natural resource developers and (2) common carriers involved in, andresponsible for, our country’s transportation, storage, and distribution (TS&D) system for energy infrastructure—pipelines, electrical transmission lines, and rail lines. Part II considers the traditional rationale for those private takings, which typically relies on some version ofthe notion thatthe public atlarge may, or will, eventually benefit from this private exercise of eminent domain. Part III explores the four central problems associated with these kinds of private takings: (1) the …

A Crackerjack Of A Sea Yarn: The Triumphs, Tributes And Trials Of Treasure Hunter Tommy Thompson, Taylor Simpson-Wood

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Land Claim Settlement In Canadian Arctic: Pragmatism And Instrumentalism At Work, Diana Ginn

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In Canada, comprehensive land claims based on Aboriginal title can be pursued through either litigation or negotiation. Generally, the relationship between litigation and negotiation of these claims is understood as one where the Supreme Court of Canada initially prodded the Canadian state to action, and then in a series of decisions developed the legal parameters within which the political realities of negotiation occur. Thus, settlement tends to follow and be shaped by the contours of the legal doctrine. However, settlement of land claims in Canada’s Arctic moved ahead of the case law in two key areas, as manifested in: (a) …

"You Belong To Me": Unscrambling The Legal Ramifications Of Recognizing A Property Right In Frozen Human Eggs, Browne C. Lewis

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article is divided into four parts. Part I includes a discussion of just a few examples of when babies conceived as a result of surrogacy arrangements have been treated like personal property. Part II explains the process that makes human oocyte cryopreservation a viable option for young women and also explores the ways that human eggs may end up in the marketplace. Part III examines the options open to courts with regard to the extent of a woman's property interest in her frozen eggs. Part IV contains an analysis of some of the property law causes of action that …