Law Commons^™

Introduction To The Symposium On Judicial Takings, Benjamin Barros

Benjamin Barros

No abstract provided.

Easements, Necessity, And The Role Of Legal Change In Judicial Takings Claims, Benjamin Barros

Benjamin Barros

No abstract provided.

The Complexities Of Judicial Takings, Benjamin Barros

Benjamin Barros

In last term’s Stop the Beach Renourishment Inc. v. Florida DEP, the Supreme Court for the first time squarely confronted the question of whether a judicial action could ever be considered an unconstitutional taking of private property. The Court unanimously rejected the judicial takings claim, but the justices issued a highly fragmented set of opinions. No justice was able to command a majority on any of the major conceptual issues presented by the judicial takings question. As a result, the Court dramatically raised the profile of judicial takings question, but left all of the major issues open. In this article, …

Homestead And Other Legal Protections Of Possession Of A Home, Benjamin Barros

Benjamin Barros

In many legal contexts, homes are given more legal protection than other types of property. This additional protection can be divided into three categories. First, possessory rights in a home might be given more protection than possessory rights in another kind of property. For example, a legal system might make it more difficult for a creditor to force the sale a home to satisfy a debt than it would be for the creditor to force the sale of another type of property (say, a commercial office building) to satisfy that same debt. Second, a legal system might economically favor ownership …

Property And Freedom, Benjamin Barros

Benjamin Barros

Private property is often defended on the basis that it promotes individual freedom. Discussion of this subject has typically taken place in the context of contentious debates over the legitimacy of government interference with private property, especially government regulation of land use and redistributive taxation. Pro-property, anti-interference advocates tend to suggest that there is a strong relationship between property and freedom. Those on the other side of the debate tend to be more skeptical. The political philosopher G.A. Cohen, for example, has asserted that "the familiar idea that private property and freedom are conceptually connected is an ideological illusion."

In …

Toward A Model Law Of Estates And Future Interests, Benjamin Barros

Benjamin Barros

The American law of estates and future interests is tremendously complex. This complexity is unjustifiable because it serves no modern purpose. Many of the distinctions between types of interests in the current system of ownership are vestiges of ancient English feudal concepts and owe their place in the law solely to historical accident. This article develops a proposed model law designed to simplify and modernize the basic property ownership system. The proposals made here differ substantially from prior suggestions for legislative reform, and reflect issues of enactability and retroactivity that previously have been neglected in the literature. The article both …

Legal Questions For The Psychology Of Home, Benjamin Barros

Benjamin Barros

Intuitions often play a significant role in shaping debate about legal issues. This is particularly the case when homes and homeownership are involved, because the experience of everyday life gives lawyers and legal scholars a foundation for intuitive judgment. Intuitions, however, can be unreliable and misleading. They therefore provide a shaky basis for legal decisionmaking. This brief essay, published as part of a special issue on Property and Psychology, begins by suggesting that the legal academy should follow the lead of the Experimental Philosophy movement and actively solicit empirical research on human behavior relevant to legal issues. It then describes …

Group Size, Heterogeneity, And Prosocial Behavior: Designing Legal Structures To Facilitate Cooperation In A Diverse Society, Benjamin Barros

Benjamin Barros

Recent social science research has found that in many scenarios, increases in group size and diversity have a negative impact on cooperation and other prosocial behavior. A related study by the political scientist Robert Putnam has created a firestorm of debate within the past year about the negative effects of diversity on the social fabric.

This essay addresses a subset of this larger debate. It looks to recent social science research to explore how and why group size and diversity impact cooperation and other prosocial behaviors. It then considers how to take the results of this research into account in …

Home As A Legal Concept, Benjamin Barros

Benjamin Barros

This article, which is the first comprehensive discussion of the American legal concept of home, makes two major contributions. First, the article systematically examines how homes are treated more favorably than other types of property in a wide range of legal contexts, including criminal law and procedure, torts, privacy, landlord-tenant, debtor-creditor, family law, and income taxation. Second, the article considers the normative issue of whether this favorable treatment is justified. The article draws from material on the psychological concept of home and the cultural history of home throughout this analysis, providing insight into the interests at stake in various legal …

At Last, Some Clarity: The Potential Long-Term Impact Of Lingle V. Chevron And The Separation Of Takings And Substantive Due Process, Benjamin Barros

Benjamin Barros

This short essay discusses the Supreme Court's recent decision in Lingle v. Chevron and its potential long-term impact on the Court's regulatory takings doctrine. Lingle involved a narrow (though important) issue of takings law, and on the surface it appears to be a relatively modest case. A deeper look, however, reveals that in its separation of substantive due process and regulatory takings, Lingle has tremendous potential to clarify regulatory takings doctrine. If this potential is fulfilled, Lingle is likely to be far more significant in the long term than Kelo v. City of New London, which has dominated the commentary …

The Police Power And The Takings Clause, Benjamin Barros

Benjamin Barros

One of the more enduring puzzles in constitutional law is the problem of regulatory takings, and it has become something of a ritual to begin articles on the issue by noting the widespread confusion that the doctrine has caused. This Article seeks to clarify the regulatory takings debate by examining the scope and nature of the police power and discussing its relationship with the Just Compensation Clause.

The recent increase in federal regulation notwithstanding, the regulatory takings doctrine is primarily the product of challenges to state police power regulations. But despite the centrality of the police power to the problem …

Defining “Property” In The Just Compensation Clause, Benjamin Barros

Benjamin Barros

No abstract provided.