INTRODUCTION On September 28, 2004, the United States Supreme Court granted a property owner’s application for leave from a Connecticut Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the community’s taking of property with the specified purpose of creating jobs by selling the property to a private industrial user.1 As the petitioner land owners in Kelo express in their brief requesting leave, the critical question for the Court to determine is whether a taking for purely… [read post]

The United State Circuit Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, opining that New York law offered "conflicting guidance" on the issue, certified the following question to New York State's Court of Appeals: "Does the 'special duty' requirement — that, to sustain liability in negligence against a municipality, the plaintiff must show that the duty breached is greater than that owed to the public generally — apply to claims of injury inflicted through municipal… [read post]

[Here's a draft of my article, on the constitutionality of anti-BDS laws and other related matters, forthcoming in a symposium at The University of the Pacific Law Review.] [read post]