Seventh Circuit Upholds Digital Sign Ban Citing Recent Supreme Court Case

This post originally appeared in Municipal Minute by Julie Tappendorf, Esq. of Ancel Glink and is reposted with permission.

We have written a number of posts on Municipal Minute discussing the US Supreme Court’s rulings in cases challenging municipal sign codes under the First Amendment. In 2015, we reported on the Court’s decision in Reed v. Gilbert that struck down the Town of Gilbert, Arizona’s temporary sign regulations. The Reed case had afterward been applied by a number of courts across the country in challenges to municipal sign regulations where sign companies and others made an argument that the challenged

Lehman – Spring 2022 – MJEAL

Agency Delegation to External Parties: An Unexplored Challenge

Benjamin Lehman


The Supreme Court recently declined to grant cert in Texas v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, a case from the 5thth Circuit. However, the three justices said the decision was driven by threshold issues of mootness and statute of limitations, but they would grant a review on the delegation issues in a future case.[1] The case revived two major questions about the constitutional limits on delegation and presented a third issue for the first time. First, the petition challenged the extent to which legislative power can be constitutionally delegated away

Zhang – Spring 2022 – MJEAL

It’s Time for a Carbon Tax

Andrew Zhang


Most Americans are worried about global warming.[1] Unfortunately, our actions do not reflect that worry. In 2019, 6,558 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (the total global warming potential of all greenhouse gases adjusted to the potential of carbon dioxide) were emitted into the atmosphere from the United States, representing a two percent increase from 1990.[2] As a result, emissions have begun to exceed the capacity of natural processes that absorb carbon dioxide.[3] Largely due to human activity, the climate has warmed by 1.53 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880.[4]

A carbon tax is

OH Appeals Court Holds Enforcement Officer was Entitled to Statutory Immunity

This post was authored by Matthew Loescher, Esq.

Property owner Powlette filed a malicious prosecution suit against the township’s zoning code enforcement officer, Carlson, alleging that the officer engaged in intentional and malicious conduct by swearing to a second criminal complaint against the owner for operating a bed and breakfast without a conditional-use certificate after the original complaint against the owner was conditionally dismissed. The Court of Common Pleas, Montgomery County, granted the officer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, and Powlette appealed.

After reviewing the pleadings, and construing all material accusations and all reasonable inferences therefrom in favor of

NY Appellate Court Upholds Damages for Partial Takings

This post was authored by Ashlee Vega- Slattery, Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center

The question in 20 Rewe Street, LTD v State of New York is whether a landowner was adequately compensated by the State for the partial taking of their Brooklyn property. The property, located in a manufacturing/industrial zone and totaling 39,900 square feet, was primarily unimproved; it consists only of a concrete wall and chain-link fence, and was used for storage and parking. In January of 2012, the New York State Department of Transportation seized 27,041 square feet from the northern side of the property, leaving

Arizona legal professional common: Pre-1901 abortion ban enforceable

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s Republican legal professional common introduced Wednesday {that a} pre-statehood regulation that bans all abortions is enforceable and that he’ll quickly file for the elimination of an injunction that has blocked it for almost 50 years.

Legal professional Basic Mark Brnovich’s workplace stated after the US Supreme Court docket overturned its 1973 choice that stated abortion was a constitutional proper that he was weighing whether or not the previous regulation might be enforced.

His choice places him at odds with Republican Gov. Doug Ducey. The governor had stated after he signed a brand new regulation banning abortions

Former Northwestern University athlete allege ‘toxic culture’ of hazing and sexual assault in the athletic department, attorneys say

Attorneys representing at least 15 former Northwestern University student athletes announced plans Wednesday to sue the university over allegations that its athletics department fostered a “toxic culture” that facilitated harassment and sexual abuse.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said the legal team is also speaking to at least 50 other former student athletes as they prepare the lawsuit.

“What they shared with us was clearly a pattern and practice of a culture that was predicated on physical intimidation, harassment, discrimination, abuse – both mentally and sexually – and it was normalized,” Crump said at a news conference in Chicago Wednesday.

NY Appellate Court Affirms Decision to Grant Area Variances Due To Lack Of Standing and The ZBA’s Proper Consideration of Facts and Alternatives

This post was authored by Tyler Doan, Esq.

Petitioner owns property on one side of a road. Respondent owns roughly 6.8 acres across the road from Petitioner that contains a two-story 97 room hotel. Both properties are located within a Highway Commercial zoning district which exists “to encourage a full range of commercial activity along major highways.” The two properties are surrounded by other commercial properties.

In 2015 Respondent applied to the ZBA for an area variance to construct two new hotels on its property. In a determination dated January 28, 2016, the ZBA granted the variances. In a CPLR