Law Commons^™

Earning Deference: Reflections On The Merger Of Environmental And Land-Use Law, Michael Allan Wolf

UF Law Faculty Publications

The bedrock notion that courts should, in the overwhelming majority of cases, defer to lawmakers is currently under attack in the nation's courts, commentary and classrooms. Leading the way are several United States Supreme Court Justices who, in cases involving the Commerce Clause, the Takings Clause and Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment, are much more willing than their immediate predecessors to second-guess the motives and tactics of elected and appointed officials at all levels of government. Given this new juris-political reality, it is more important than ever that local government officials--who are often (though, certainly, not always justifiably) viewed …