Inverse Condemnation

Subscribe to Inverse Condemnation

By James Rusk

The Court of Federal Claims this month awarded more than $4.2 million to the estate of Wayne and Jean Hage as compensation for the federal government’s taking of the Hages’ water rights and rangeland improvements.  Hage v. United States, No. 91-1470L (Fed. Cl. June 6, 2008).  Hage V, the latest chapter in the long-running Hage case, affirms the principle that private parties do not have a compensable property interest in federal grazing permits.  But the decision nonetheless recognizes that government actions distinct from the cancellation of grazing permits may, under some circumstances, effect a Fifth Amendment taking of an individual’s vested right to water flowing from federal lands. …

Continue Reading Federal Claims Court Awards $4.2M to Ranchers’ Estate for Taking of Water Rights

By Donna D. Jones and Michael B. Wilmar

In County of Alameda v. Superior Court, 133 Cal. App. 4th 558 (2005), the California Court of Appeal, First District, ruled that a developer seeking to bring an inverse condemnation action may not invoke the futility exception to the ripeness doctrine until the developer has submitted a development proposal to land use authorities and had it denied.
Continue Reading Ripeness Doctrine And Futility Exception Both Require Submission And Denial of a “Meaningful Application”