Calling all Kelo fans and critics!

If you're in the T-town neighborhood, there will be a great forum on Kelo and the future of property rights here at the FSU law school this afternoon.  More info on the Environmental Forum is available here.   Here's some of the info:

Few decisions of the United States Supreme Court have attracted as much attention and caused as much public debate as the June 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London. Over hotly worded dissents, the Court’s majority ruled that the Fifth Amendment, which provides that “private property [shall not] be taken for public use, without just compensation,” does not prevent a local government from transferring property from one private landowner to another private interest in order to facilitate economic development and boost local tax revenues. Any protection from such government action, the majority ruled, must come from state and local law, not the Constitution.

Not surprisingly, many commentators quickly condemned Kelo as the last nail in the coffin of property rights, eradicating any notion that, under the Constitution, one’s home is one’s castle. On the other hand, many have risen in defense of Kelo, arguing that good government should promote economic prosperity and decide what best accomplishes that goal without close judicial oversight, and that the interests of the few who wish to hold on to their property notwithstanding the offer of fair compensation should not stand in the way of a community’s future. Kelo thus puts Florida land use policy at a crossroads. The Supreme Court has left it to the states to decide whether to favor the private individual’s property rights over the interests of community development. Florida constitutional and statutory law is not well settled on the matter, and the Legislature currently is considering whether and how to clarify matters through legislation. This Forum is intended to provide background on the varying perspectives and to stimulate discourse on which policy direction Florida should adopt.

Presenters include:

Wade Hopping
Wade Hopping is a founding member of the Tallahassee law firm Hopping Green & Sams. His Land Use and Administrative Law practice focuses on planning and licensing of complex projects. Mr. Hopping served as a Justice in the Florida Supreme Court from 1968-1969, and was employed at Florida State University College of Law as an Adjunct Professor of Environmental Law in1978 and Land Use Law in 1984.
Michael Parker
Michael Parker is the economic development director for the City of Tallahassee and also serves as the executive director for the Tallahassee Community Redevelopment Agency. Mr. Parker received his master’s degree in public administration from FSU and has 24 years of experience working in local government for the cities of Long Beach, California, Ft. Lauderdale and Tallahassee. Mr. Parker led the initiative to establish the Tallahassee Redevelopment Agency in 1998.
Debra W. Schiro
Debra W. Schiro, a FSU College of Law graduate, has been an assistant city attorney with Tallahassee since 2000, specializing in all aspects of eminent domain law and real estate transactions. Prior to joining the City, she was an assistant attorney general representing Districts III and VII of the Florida Department of Transportation in the acquisition of real property through condemnation. She is a member of the Association of Eminent Domain Professionals and is a vice chair of the Eminent Domain Committee of the Florida Bar.
Mark Seidenfeld
Mark Seidenfeld is the associate dean for academic affairs and the Patricia A. Dore Professor of Administrative Law at The Florida State University College of Law. Professor Seidenfeld earned his J.D. from Stanford University in 1983, clerked for the Honorable Patricia Wald on the D.C. Circuit, and worked for the New York State Public Service Commission before joining the faculty at FSU. He has written extensively on the structure of administrative agencies and judicial review, and has taught Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, and Law & Economics as well as several courses that address particular areas of regulation.
J. B. Ruhl, Moderator
J. B. Ruhl, is the Matthews & Hawkins Professor of Property at Florida State University College of Law, where he teaches courses on Environmental Law, Land Use, and Property. Professor Ruhl is a nationally regarded expert in the fields of endangered species protection, regulation of wetlands, ecosystem management, environmental impact analysis, and related environmental and natural resources fields. His extensive publications in these fields include recent articles in the Stanford Law Review, Georgetown Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, and Ecology Law Quarterly. He is also co-author of the recently published casebook, The Law of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management (Foundation Press 2002), which is the first casebook to organize environmental law under these emerging themes. Prior to entering full-time law teaching, Professor Ruhl was a partner in the law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P., in the firm’s Austin, Texas, office. Professor Ruhl received his B.A. (1979) and J.D. (1982) degrees from the University of Virginia, and a Master of Laws (1986) in environmental law from the George Washington University.

Thanks to my colleague JB Ruhl for the tip.