Fall 2011 Update - Santa Cruz County Property Owner, Paul Carrick takes case to U.S. Supreme Court
Watch> KSBW TV News on Another Santa Cruz County Property Rights Victory! Then ask, Was Your "Notice of Violation" Legal? There is now a window of opportunity to get these notices expunged from your property title report. As a result of a courageous and perseverant property owner by the name of Paul Carrick, Santa Cruz County was found to be in violation of proper processes for filing Notices of Violation by the San Jose 6th District Appellate Court. 

What if a private person were to trespass on your property to see if you might be violating coastal regulations? If evidence were obtained as a result of the trespass, would it be admissible by the California Coastal Commission in an enforcement action and later in court, or would it be a Fourth Amendment violation as an unreasonable search?

Ever since 2005 when the United States Supreme Court ruled in Kelo v. Town of New London, Connecticut, there has been heightened attention paid to the Constitution’s protection of private property rights. The Kelo Court held that the government’s power of eminent domain was so great that it could take one person’s private property for another’s private economic gain. The Court chose to rewrite our nation’s Constitution by substituting public “purpose” for public “use.” The purpose here was to improve the tax base.

The Price Of Successfully Challenging The Federal Interpretation Of The Clean Water Act

In 2006 I wrote about the United States Supreme Court rendering its highly anticipated decision in John Rapanos v. United States. The issue was whether the term “waters of the United States” as used in the Clean Water Act included wetlands on private property not directly abutting navigable waters.

Of particular interest was the effect that the Court’s two newest members, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, might have on the course of our nation––particularly in the area of private property rights.

Private property is more than a "thing."  Your body, your thoughts and your actions obtain for you the benefits of various things, but it is the relationship between you and those things that form the essence of private property. Our forebearers recognized the idea and the ideal that every individual possesses unalienable rights. When this idea is respected it provides great advantages to individuals and society.

Have you ever bought a puzzle and discovered all the pieces were there – but there was no picture? The purpose of this article is to provide you with that “picture” and a look at both allies and opposition.

Consider the word “sacrifice”. Define this as voluntarily giving up something of value in hope of a return of greater value or for a higher purpose.

What could sound more friendly and beneficial than Scenic Byways? It has the sound of bucolic, small town scenic back roads being preserved for those quiet drives. Like so many ‘good’ programs, this one can cost the holders of property their property rights.

“Right now we don’t go knocking on doors,” said Planning Director Tom Burns. The ambiguity of this statement causes one to seriously question, “When exactly will they be pounding on my door?”