The U.S. Supreme Court last week unanimously held that the Takings Clause of the Constitution prevents legislatures, as well as administrative agencies, from imposing unconstitutional conditions on land-use permits....more
4/17/2024
/ Building Permits ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Exactions ,
Fees ,
George Sheetz v County of El Dorado ,
Impact Fees ,
Just Compensation ,
Land Developers ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Property Improvements ,
Property Owners ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Takings Clause ,
Unconstitutional Condition
On June 27 in Moore v. Harper, a 6-3 majority of the United States Supreme Court upheld a state court’s power to invalidate a congressional district map that violates the state’s constitution. In an opinion written by Chief...more
On Monday, September 14, U.S. District Court Judge William S. Stickman IV became the first federal or state judge in Pennsylvania to strike down Governor Tom Wolf’s emergency orders relating to the COVID-19 pandemic....more
9/16/2020
/ Business Closures ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dissenting Opinions ,
Due Process ,
Equal Protection ,
First Amendment ,
Governor Wolf ,
PA Supreme Court ,
Police Power ,
Public Gatherings ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Shelter-In-Place ,
Standard of Review
On July 1, in Wolf v. Scarnati, a divided Supreme Court of Pennsylvania rejected House Resolution 836, in which the Commonwealth’s General Assembly attempted to terminate Governor Tom Wolf’s Proclamation of Disaster...more
Private citizens have separately challenged Governor Tom Wolf’s COVID-19 executive orders as unconstitutional takings in federal district court and in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Learn more about those cases here: Friends...more
On Monday, in Friends of Danny DeVito v. Wolf, a divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected a constitutional challenge to Governor Tom Wolf’s executive order closing non-life sustaining businesses. ...more