Letters: Issues in Paradise

May 1, 2012 9:40 AM CDT

Supreme Court to Decide Whether Temporary Flooding of Land by US Is a Taking

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday granted cert in a case that contends temporary flooding by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is a taking requiring compensation to the landowner. The claimant, the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, says thousands of oak tries died when the government flooded its wildlife…

Apr 3, 2012 3:15 PM CDT

Alito Concurrence Decries ‘Notoriously Unclear’ Clean Water Act in Landowner Rights Case

The U.S. Supreme Court is allowing Idaho property owners to challenge the wetlands designation for their property in a case that had generated landowner sympathy among conservatives, libertarians and developers. The property owners, Chantell and Michael Sackett, were represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation, which had viewed the case as…

Mar 21, 2012 3:05 PM CDT

Does Apprendi Limit Judges’ Findings on Corporate Fines? Justices Mull the Issue

A lawyer representing a natural gas company argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday that a multimillion-dollar environmental fine for illegally storing mercury cannot stand because the judge who imposed it referred to facts not found by a jury. The case raised issues about the reach of the 2000…

Mar 21, 2012 1:35 PM CDT

BP Reaches Estimated $7.8B Deal in Oil Spill; Will Feinberg Claimants Benefit?

BP has agreed to pay an estimated $7.8 billion to settle a class action by around 100,000 plaintiffs and businesses harmed by the Gulf oil spill. If U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier of New Orleans approves the deal, it will be among the largest class action settlements in history, the…

Mar 5, 2012 11:30 AM CST

Washed Away: As Sea Levels Rise, Island Nations Look to the Law to Fend off Extinction

The Marshall Islands—two roughly parallel chains of low-lying coral atolls that stretch across 800 miles just north of the equator—have an intensely close relationship with the Pacific Ocean that surrounds them. The full implications of that relationship were apparent in a student’s question for John M. Silk, who was serving…

Mar 1, 2012 11:19 AM CST

19 Current and Former Employees Sue, Calling Broward County Courthouse a ‘Sick’ Building

Contending that the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is infested with toxic mold and asbestos fibers, 19 current and former employees are suing. They are seeking not only financial compensation for alleged health problems caused by the “sick” building but medical monitoring and a safe work environment, according…

Feb 22, 2012 11:04 PM CST

Supreme Court Rejects Montana’s ‘Short Interruptions’ Approach in Riverbed Dispute

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against the state of Montana after diving into a riverbed rights dispute. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote the opinion (PDF) for a unanimous court favoring a company that operates hydroelectric dams on three rivers in the state: the Missouri, the Madison and Clark Fork.…

Feb 22, 2012 4:19 PM CST

Citing Environmental Concerns, Denver Law Clinic Helps Sue to Stop Christo ‘Over the River’ Project

Denver law students representing a group concerned about canyonland drilling necessary to anchor a massive Christo public art installation “Over the River” are suing to stop the project. Christo plans to stretch fabric over the Arkansas River for two weeks in August 2014, an effort that critics who’ve dubbed themselves…

Feb 2, 2012 11:40 AM CST

Suit Against EPA Claims Nanosilver in Textiles Needs More Testing

An environmental group has sued the Environmental Protection Agency seeking to block the EPA’s conditional approval of odor-fighting nanosilver in clothing and other textiles. The Natural Resources Defense Council filed suit last week in the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the National Law Journal reports. A federal…

Jan 31, 2012 11:59 AM CST

Senior Cravath Partner Makes Rare Lateral Leap

A senior partner of Cravath Swaine & Moore has made a rare lateral leap to another law firm. Jeffrey Smith, who founded the firm’s environmental practice group 20 years ago as a lateral hire (also unusual at Cravath), left his role as head of that practice group to join Crowell…

Jan 11, 2012 11:59 PM CST

Building Engineer’s Response to Blocked Toilets Results in Criminal Conviction

Federal criminal prosecutions are expanding, and building engineer Lawrence Lewis is an example. Lewis tried to cope with a backed-up sewage system at the military retirement home where he worked by diverting the system into an outside storm drain, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Lewis believed the drain…

Dec 12, 2011 1:45 PM CST

Knock on Wood: Importers Fret After Feds Raid Guitar Maker Under Lacey Act

Dec 1, 2011 10:00 AM CST

Supreme Court Case Could Affect Control of Nation’s Riverbeds

A U.S. Supreme Court case on the ownership of land below three Montana rivers could affect control of riverbeds throughout the country. Montana asserts it owns the land and it is entitled to rent from a company that operates hydroelectric dams along the rivers, the Washington Post reports. The Supreme…

Nov 30, 2011 11:30 AM CST

Law Prof Is Concerned About Methods of Company Using Genetics to Control Mosquitoes

Researchers say their genetically engineered mosquitoes are apparently having the intended effect. In a paper released on Sunday in the journal Nature Biotechnology, researchers said about 19,000 genetically altered mosquitoes were released on Grand Cayman Island in 2009, report the New York Times and Bloomberg News. The pests are lab-altered…

Nov 1, 2011 10:29 AM CDT