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| State, Local Governments Win “Takings” CaseIt has been a number of years since states and local governments won a property rights case. But in Murr v. Wisconsin, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded 5-3 that no taking occurred where state law and local ordinance “merged†nonconforming, adjacent lots under common ownership, meaning the property owners could not sell one of the lots by itself. The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendments prohibits the government from “taking†private property for public use without “just compensation.†According to Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, the question in this case was whether the lots should be viewed as a single parcel when concluding whether a taking took place. The court applied a three-factor test that led it to conclude that the lots should be viewed as one parcel. |
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| Trump’s DOL Addresses Overtime Rules
The Trump administration said in a Texas court filing late last week that it would rewrite an Obama-era rulemaking that dramatically expanded the number of workers covered by federal overtime rules. Under former President Barack Obama, the Department of Labor (DOL) last year doubled to $47,000 the minimum annual salary threshold a worker must make before he or she can be deemed a “managerial” worker and therefore exempt from federal law requiring that they are paid time and a half after working 40 hours in a week. A Texas court struck it down on procedural grounds late last year. The Obama administration swiftly appealed but was unable to resolve the issue before the new administration took over. Trump’s DOL argued that it has the authority to establish an overtime salary test, but declines to do so in this particular case. |
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| Federal authorities investigate fair housing complaints against Noblesville and Hamilton County
Federal authorities are investigating housing discrimination complaints against the city of Noblesville and Hamilton County over the lack of low-income housing in the wealthy suburb. Amy Nelson, executive director of the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana, told the Indianapolis Star that regardless of whether they are intentional, Noblesville’s development policies have kept segregation patterns intact instead of breaking them down. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity is investigating the complaints. The city and county receive federal funding aimed at helping communities reduce poverty. The complaints argued they violated the fair housing requirements that come with the money. |
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| State & Local Legal Center Supreme Court Review Webinar
First Amendment and police cases dominated the Supreme Court’s state and local government docket this term. Discuss these and other cases of interest to states and local governments with Mike Scodro, Mayer Brown, who argued one of the police cases this term, Kyle Duncan, Schaerr Duncan, and Ken Jost, author of Supreme Court yearbook and Jost on Justice. This event is FREE and will focus exclusively on cases of interest to states and local governments decided by the end of June. It will begin at 1:00 p.m. EST on July 13. Register here.
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Joshua Claybourn
Joshua is Counsel in Jackson Kelly’s Evansville office. He advises clients in matters of business and corporate law, governmental services, and public finance. Learn more here. |
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