Justice Scalia's Property Rights Jurisprudence 11-19-2016




Federalist Society Event Audio show

Summary: In his nearly 30 years on the Court, Justice Scalia left a profound mark on many areas of the law, including property rights. From his seminal decisions in Nollan v. California Coastal Commission and Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council to his frequent questioning at oral argument, Justice Scalia helped define the relationship between property and the Constitution. While his critics have suggested that Justice Scalia's property rights jurisprudence manifested a willingness to engage in “judicial activism," others have defended Scalia's approach as consistent with original understandings of the text of the Constitution. -- This panel will address Justice Scalia's influence on constitutional understandings of property rights. Professor Ely has written extensively on the historical understandings of property rights including the popular book, The Guardian of Every Other Right: A Constitutional History of Property Rights. Professor Somin's recently published The Grasping Hand: "Kelo V. City of New London" and the Limits of Eminent Domain explores one of the Court's most notorious departures from the protection of property rights. Professor Hills is a renowned expert on the law of land use planning and has taken a more charitable view of the power of government to control the use of property. He is a co-author of Land Use Controls: Cases and Materials. The panel will be moderated by Justice Allison Eid, from the Colorado Supreme Court. -- Featuring: Prof. John Echeverria, Professor of Law, Vermont Law School; Prof. James W. Ely, Jr., Milton R. Underwood Professor of Law Emeritus, Professor of History Emeritus, Lecturer in Law, Vanderbilt Law School; Prof. Roderick M. Hills, Jr., William T. Comfort, III Professor of Law, New York University School of Law; Hon. Adam P. Laxalt, Attorney General, Nevada; and Prof. Ilya Somin, Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University. Moderator: Hon. Allison H. Eid, Colorado Supreme Court. Introduction: Mr. Jeffrey Bossert Clark, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP.