Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute
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Blights Out and Property Rights in New Orleans Post-Katrina
Get PDFIn 2018’s Saint Bernard Parish Government v. United States, Federal Appeals Judge Timothy Dyk reversed a lower court decision finding that the federal government had violated the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause rights cherished by home-owning New Orleanians. The lower court maintained that such taking occurred via the Army Corps of Engineers’ building, maintaining, and failing to maintain the seventy-six mile long navigational channel known as the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO), which increased the surge storms of Hurricane Katrina. Though MRGO helped turn Katrina into a superstorm that devastated thousands of properties, Judge Dyk determined that the lower court’s takings analysis proved fatally flawed because it pivoted on government omission and failed to consider the totality of circumstances.
In line with my ongoing work in Community Constitutionalism, I study the art of a New Orleans-based collective called Blights Out, whose members have staged performances and actions that protest how people of color have been deprived of property post-Katrina. Through careful analysis of their billboards and engagements, I tease out two legal arguments made by the collective: First, that the government may wrongfully deprive the people of property through omission. Second, that the window of time within which such takings may be discerned proves much wider than that imagined by Judge Dyk’s description of the “totality of circumstances.” Depending on the work of popular constitutionalists and my previous study of the linkages between art and jurisprudence, I conclude that Blights Out’s legal thought offers a powerful rejoinder to Judge Dyk’s analysis, and offers important arguments for the future applications of takings law
\u3cem\u3eRespondeat Superior\u3c/em\u3e Vicarious Liability for Clergy Sexual Abuse: Four Approaches
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The Life and Death of Confederate Monuments
Get PDFConfederate monuments have again received increased attention in the aftermath of George Floyd’s tragic death in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020. Momentum and shifting public opinion are working toward the removal of these problematic monuments across the country. This Article seeks to provide insight for monument-removal advocates: specifically focusing on the legal issues associated with the “death” or removal of these monuments, how property law shapes and defines these efforts, and briefly examining what happens to these statues after removal. Our exploration of Confederate monuments reveals that some removal efforts occur outside of legally created processes. Both public and private entities choose to remove monuments in the face of legal barriers that either bar or slow removal. This mismatch between law and action (particularly by public actors) should lead communities to question the laws designed to keep monuments in place and whose voices should be heard during these discussions. Communities must also seriously consider their obligations regarding these monumental legacies and ensure that their removal strategies effectively address the root issues and do not simply relocate the issue to another public forum or community
Silverman, Patterson, Wang: Taking on Stereotypes to Protect Fair and Affordable Housing Policies
Get PDFOur article, “Questioning Stereotypes about U.S. Site-Based Subsidized Housing” (forthcoming in the International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis), grew out of work done with the support of a Baldy Center research grant. The research examined data for all public housing and other site-based subsidized properties in the U.S. in order to determine the veracity of long-standing stereotypes about these properties. Stereotypes about government subsidized housing have dominated public discourse since the early 1950s. In many respects, these stereotypes have penetrated debates about public policies designed to address the shortage of affordable housing and become a mainstay in American society. This is true when public housing is discussed, but also with respect to the spectrum of fair and affordable housing policy