Horne v. Department of Agriculture

Drought and the Supreme Court

Does the Court’s Decision in the Raisin Case Imperil Water Management?

When I first read Rick’s writeup of the Supreme Court’s decision in USDA v. Horne, concerning the federal government’s Depression-era system of “marketing orders” that required farmers to set aside a percentage of their raisin crop in a government-controlled account, I was worried about water. And that’s not just because I always worry about water. Horne turned on …

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Breaking News: Supreme Court Rules Federal Agricultural Program a Taking

Justices Uphold California Raisin Growers’ Fifth Amendment Challenge

The United States Supreme Court today ended a David-and-Goliath-style, 10-year legal battle between a pair of California raisin growers and the federal government, declaring that the government triggered a compensable taking of the growers’ private property when a federally-controled agricultural board ordered seizure of a portion of their crop.  The Court’s decision can be accessed …

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Property Rights and California Raisins: Headed to the Supreme Court–Again

Justices To Rule on Whether Feds’ Depression-Era Agricultural Regulations Unconstitutionally “Take” Farmers’ Property Without Compensation

The media and U.S. Supreme Court watchers have understandably focused on the justices’ order yesterday agreeing to review the constitutionality of state same-sex marriage bans–automatically making it the “blockbuster” issue before the Court this Term.  Largely overshadowed by that news was the justices’ contemporaneous decision to revisit the interrelated issues of property rights, the Takings …

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U.S. Supreme Court Rules for Property Owners–Again

Observers continue to await the third and most significant property rights case on the Supreme Court’s docket this Term–Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District–which should be released later this week.  In the meantime, another property rights case was decided by the justices earlier this month that, while largely overlooked by the media, represents …

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