The reaction of the Half Moon Bay City Council to the $36,795,000 judgment was a mixture of shock, mystification and dismay.  In addition to compensating Ms. Yamagiwa for the loss of private property, it is hoped that Chief Judge Walker’s opinion will remind all government decision makers to first ask the question:  “What about the Constitution?”

The recently decided Ninth Circuit case, Crown Point  vs. Sun Valley, illustrates the contrast between social justice and equal justice. Social justice relies on the establishment of  "civil law, " which is designed to expand government and its partners authority at the expense of individual liberty. Equal justice on the other hand respects individual rights and private property. The Crown Point case sets an example for equal justice.

Deed restrictions, mandatory inspections, pre-enforcement and proactive enforcement exist under the banner of "streamlining" and "simplifying" the "permit reform" process. A continuation of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisor's Hearing is April 15 2008.  [The link goes to Agenda Item 37, takes a long time to download and is at times inaccessible. See page 19 of the 126 page document.]

Since 1993, California planning department officials have relied on the State's "Landgate" decision for providing them confidence that they and their employers are immune from claims of abuse. This article describes the history, the relevant law and the legal attack on the Landgate precedent. Michael Shaw, President of Freedom Advocates is a plaintiff in both cases described in that attack.

On April 30, 2007, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association presented a new initiative to the Attorney General’s Office entitled the “California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act” to be voted on at the June 2008 election. It will reverse the eminent domain Kelo case for Californians by specifically defining “public use” as meaning use and ownership by a public agency for the public use stated at the time of the taking, such as roads, parks and public facilities.

The Clean Water Authority Restoration Act (CWARA) moves the Clean Water Act (CWA) beyond protecting wetlands and waterways, and creates legislation that would regulate nearly every wet area in the nation. This could include ditches, farm ponds and possibly groundwater. "Navigable" is the one little word deleted from the Clean Water Act.

The Santa Cruz County Planning Department and most recently the Santa Cruz County Superior Court system have again demonstrated that the environmental movement is: (1) merely a front for destruction of private property and the freedom that private property supports and (2) not committed to improving or “saving the environment.”

Under a benign sounding program called “Pathfinder,” single-family houses in the United Kingdom are targets of the wrecking ball. The aggressive tactic of "public/private partner" redevelopment called “Smart Growth” (rails, trails and high-density housing) is occurring on both sides of the Atlantic. “Eminent domain” and “compulsory purchase order seizures” are on the rise but there is also hope in the form of successful individual resistance.

Private property advocates respond to Los Angeles Times’ missing coverage of the Hollywood & Vine eminent domain redevelopment controversy.