Monday, October 7, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Friday, June 28, 2019
What The US Supreme Court's Property Rights Decision Means For Hawaii's Property Owners
By Robert Thomas @ 3:10 AM :: 10135 Views :: National News, Development, Judiciary, Land Use, Small Business, Tourism

Legalalertknick

What The US Supreme Court's Property Rights Decision Means For Hawaii's Property Owners

by Robert Thomas, InverseCondemnation.com, June 27, 2019

We've already set out our general thoughts about the Supreme Court’s decision in Knick v. Township of Scott in a series of posts on the case. But we haven't yet noted what the case might mean on the ground in Hawaii, our home turf. 

In a client alert we did: Hawaii’s property owners now have many more options for fighting back against oppressive government regulation of property than they did last week: 

--You can go straight to federal court to claim that a county ordinance or regulation has violated your Fifth Amendment rights, if the regulation allows the public to enter your land, or severely restricts your uses of your property. You no longer need to go to state court at all. You still may choose to do so—and there may be good reasons why you may want to consider state court—but you cannot be forced to.

--There may be advantages to federal court: life-tenured judges insulated from politics, who are used to protecting federal constitutional rights; a fast docket (Hawaii’s federal court has one of the fastest civil dockets in the nation); the federal courthouse is in Honolulu not on a neighbor island, so lawsuits against neighbor island counties no longer need be brought there with the associated expenses; and federal juries are selected from a statewide pool, unlike Hawaii circuit court juries which are county-by-county.
--Critically, if a property owner is successful in her federal civil rights claim, she is entitled to an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. Hawaii law does not recognize the same right. 

--Appellate review of the Hawaii federal district court is by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit comprised of judges from across the western states. Property owners who bring their federal takings claims in federal court can avoid appellate review by the Hawaii Supreme Court, a forum which is not reputed to be terribly property-rights friendly.

--This does not mean that if a local government affirmatively condemns your property by eminent domain that you can sue to stop it in federal court. Knick is, for now, reserved for claims alleging takings where a regulation so burdens a private owner’s reasonable uses, that the local government should pay compensation.

PDF: Changes Ahead for Property Owners: After More Than 30 Years, Supreme Court Reopens Federal Courthouse Door...

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii