Damon Key attorneys Robert Thomas, Mark Murakami, and Tred Eyerly filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in the case involving Florida’s efforts to replace and “renourish” beaches. More about the case and the issues here.
In Walton County v. Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc., 998 So.2d 1102 (Fla. Sep. 29, 2008), the Florida Supreme Court held that a state statute which prohibits “beach renourishment” without a permit did not effect a taking of littoral (beachfront) property, even though it altered the long-standing rights of the owners to accretion on their land and direct access to the ocean.
The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether the Florida court’s reversal of more than 100 years of Florida law was a judicial taking, and whether the Florida court’s decision violated due process.
The brief is available here.