Property Rights Law Brings Call for Waivers: Critics Say City, County Efforts to Avert Lawsuits Tread Fine Line
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By Erica Meltzer, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson  Feb. 12--Proposition 207 aimed to expand property rights in Arizona. If the government changed the rules for how you could use your land, you could ask for compensation for any lost value.
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By Hannah Mitchell, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.  Dec. 10--Among the complaints that people have about a proposed land-development code for Catawba County's unincorporated areas, rules on home businesses, minimum lot sizes and trailer homes top the list.
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The Supreme Court considered Wednesday whether companies that voluntarily seek to clean up their polluted land can sue former owners to get help with the costs. The case could have important ramifications for communities with abandoned toxic plants, landfills and mines.
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By Elias E. Lopez, The Miami Herald  Dec. 10--Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn asked residents to join him in a fight against overdevelopment in Miami-Dade County, rising insurance rates and "unfair" mitigation fees during his annual State of the Village address Wednesday.
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A little county with a reputation for big lawsuits &#151; some call it a "judicial hellhole" &#151; is getting a visit from a man who wants to make it much tougher to sue somebody.
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Every month, hundreds of people are summoned to courts across the nation&#39;s most populous county for a public scolding. It&#39;s no surprise that only a handful show up -- after all, they are expert at that all-American custom: dodging jury duty.
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A Pennsylvania town's efforts to crack down on illegal immigration will be challenged by civil rights campaigners in a landmark federal trial beginning on Monday that could signal whether such local laws across the country can stand up to legal challenge.
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By Mary E. Young, Reading Eagle, Pa.  Dec. 15--Berks County municipalities may benefit from the dismissal of a lawsuit in which the state attorney general claimed a joint zoning ordinance was too restrictive, the county commissioners said Thursday.  Commissioner Thomas W. Gajewski Sr.
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By Charles Ashby, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.  Feb. 24--DENVER -- A bill to strip governments' ability to take water rights through eminent domain squeaked through the House on a preliminary vote Friday.   Freshman Rep.
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By The Sacramento Bee, Calif.  May 29--Sacramento County's landmark affordable housing law is under attack, and the real threat isn't the court system, but a new majority on the Board of Supervisors.
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Mayor Don Williamson is taking a novel tack in fighting lawsuits &#151; he's withholding city business from anyone who has sued Flint within the past five years.
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In a vote aimed at limiting the power of local officials to take or restrict the use of private land, the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed a bill to expedite property rights claims in federal courts.
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By Harry Franklin, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.  Sep. 21--Four residents have filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to keep Cusseta-Chattahoochee County from creating a police department.
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By The Stamford Advocate, Conn.  Feb. 5--It's human nature to play for time when big issues need to be resolved. But big issues -- like eminent domain reform -- are what state lawmakers were elected to confront.
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By Vivian Austin, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.  Sep. 11--GAUTIER -- City personnel are seeking grant money to fund an environmental court that would help enforce Gautier's laws on property care and cleanup.
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By Mike Stanton; Journal Staff Writer  As the head of a neighborhood group asks a committee for stiffer penalties for polluters, senators grill state officials about the costs of the lawsuit.
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By Julia Oliver, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.  Mar. 4--Union County has asked a court to uphold its growth-control ordinance in response to a developer's suit challenging its legality.