Oral argument in Condemnation Blight case

Oral argument was had Monday, June 22nd, in Key West, before Florida's Third District Court of Appeal, in the Condemnation Blight case of Florida DEP v. West, et al., that resulted in a $6.9 million judgment for two parcels that the state "quick-took" for $630,000 in 2004. (Details on MattsonLaw.com) The panel included Chief Judge Gersten and District Judges Suarez and Rothenberg. Judges Gersten and Suarez were on the panels in Collins v. Monroe County and Shands v City of Marathon one year ago (June 30, 2008). The Landowners prevailed in both Collins and Shands, and Judge Suarez signed both opinions.

It was obvious that Judge Rothenberg had read the briefs. She came out of the box at the State's attorney (for whom this was the first appeal he had ever briefed or argued) when he presented his theory that "this is not 'condemnation blight,' but was a regulatory taking in 1982." Judge Rothenberg punctured the State's balloon when she referred to the holding in Tahoe-Sierra -- that moratoria are "temporary takings," and that temporary takings do not accrue until they end. So much for the State's statute of limitations theory.

The West case is a superb example of condemnation blight. We thank Gideon Kanner for his life's work in this area. Most Florida Keys condemnation cases have been "lightly defended" by mainland Florida eminent domain lawyers (with one major exception, Doug Halsey), who had no clue what happened from 1982 forward. However, as Senior District Judge Alan Schwartz said in one of our oral arguments several years ago, "the courts don't exist to protect people from the use of their pens." We realize most owners of condemned Florida Keys properties could have used the condemnation blight strategy we used in this case, but their attorneys were unfamiliar with the facts on the ground.

Chief Judge Gersten asked both sides if they considered the State's theory of the case "fair." My response is obvious. The State's response was "I will not say this is fair, but we are governed by laws."

One of those laws is the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and that "law" requires the government to act in a fair and equitable manner when it condemns property (or does anything else). Keep checking back to learn how this comes out. The Third District Court of Appeal releases its decisions on Wednesdays, at about 10:30 AM.

U.S. Supreme Court disqualifies W Va Supreme Court Justice on due process grounds

Today, in an astounding decision -- not because it was unexpected, but because all four "conservative" Justices dissented -- the Supreme Court reversed a West Virginia Supreme Court's decision because one Justice refused to recuse (disqualify) himself. See Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co., Case No. 08-22 (U.S., June 8, 2009).

For those who missed the news coverage of this case, Caperton obtained a $50 million judgment against Massey. Massey appealed to the W. Va. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, one Brent Benjamin was challenging an incumbent Justice seeking re-election. Massey Coal's chairman, Don Blankenship, contributed $3 million to Mr. Benjamin's campaign. Mr. Benjamin was successful, and became Justice Benjamin. (Note added June 16: Only $1,000 went directly into Mr. Benjamin's campaign account, the other $2.999 million was spent on advertising on Mr. Benjamin's behalf.)

Caperton moved to disqualify Justice Benjamin, and the Justice refused to recuse himself. The supreme court reversed Caperton's $50 million judgment,on a 3-2 vote. One dissenter, Justice Starcher, wrote:

The majority opinion is morally wrong because it steals more than $60 million dollars from a man who was the victim of a deliberate, illegal scheme to destroy his business. The majority opinion is legally wrong because it uses erroneous legal reasoning to justify an immoral result.

The supreme court vacated its first effort and re-heard the case. Two Justices (including Starcher, J.) disqualified themselves. They were replaced by two trial court judges. The result was the same, 3-2 in favor of Massey. Three months later, Justice Benjamin released a 98-page concurring opinion that attempts to justify his refusal to disqualify himself.

The Supreme Court granted certiorari, and oral argument was held on March 3, 2009 -- just three months ago. The Court's swing-vote, Justice Kennedy, delivered the opinion, joined by Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer. I've posted a link to the Court's opinions (Justices Roberts and Scalia filed dissenting opinions), and if you can read this you can read the opinions.

The dissents of Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito are disturbing. While we are seeing a fair amount of conservative hand-wringing over Judge Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, we should not forget that "conservative" judges often side with the government -- except in land use cases, thank goodness. Judge Sotomayer would at least keep the balance when other (non land-use) Constitutional rights are at stake.

Suffice it to say that the Supreme Court's decision in Caperton v. Massey adds weight to the judicial disqualification process throughout the state and federal courts, in its renewed application of the Due Process Clause, in addition to statutory criteria, to support motions to disqualify judges.