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Friday, June 18, 2010

Courts - "Stevens' Recusal Makes Difference in Fla. Property Ruling" [Updated]

Tony Mauro reports in The National Law Journal today that Justice Stevens figured prominently in another SCOTUS decision yesterday (in addition to the NLRB ruling he authored):

In its ruling Thursday in Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Supreme Court was badly divided, producing no majority opinion and leaving the breadth of its impact unclear. Four justices said a judicial decision that extinguishes property rights can be viewed as a taking under the Takings Clause, but four other justices said that issue did not need to be resolved in this case. In either case, the Court was unanimous in upholding a Florida Supreme Court decision about oceanfront property lines that a group of affected property owners had challenged.

What about the ninth vote? That was missing, because Justice John Paul Stevens had recused abruptly in the case at the oral argument stage. And though it's hard to say for sure how the case would have turned out if Stevens had stayed in the case, there probably would have been a majority for some proposition -- making it clear yet again that the recusal of a single justice can make a big difference in a case.

"The fact that Justice Stevens recused in this case was very consequential," said Fordham Law School dean William Treanor, a Takings Clause expert. Stevens has "the narrowest view of the Takings Clause" on the Court, Treanor said, so probably would have been a a vote for the position that judicial rulings can't be takings. At the very least, Stevens' absence "shifted the dynamics" of the Court's decision-making, Treanor said.

[Updated at 1:17 PM] Read or listen to this over 5 minute-long story today by NPR's Nina Totenberg headed "High Court Rules Against Beachfront Homeowners."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 18, 2010 10:10 AM
Posted to Courts in general