Liveblogging ALPS 2014: Session 4

Hmm.. I guess live blogging doesn't really work if the post doesn't go up.. Here is a summary of the afternoon session I attended yesterday.

 Having just finished off my Property Law class with discussing Stop the Beach, I was understandably drawn to Marc Poirier's talk on Harvey Cedars v. Karan. It's a story that is easy to get outraged about. Rich homeowners on an island in New Jersey protest (and sue) when the state wants to protect their homes with beach renourishment. The story has a relatively happy ending because although it may be taking of private properties, the damage calculation would have gotten offset by the value of the benefit of the renourishment to their property (the property owners settled for $1 plus attorneys' fees .. not the $700,000 they were asking). Can't wait to read the paper.

 Ngai Pindell (UNLV)  then gave a talk about gaming. This is an issue that I think about (perhaps more than I should) but from a different approach than Ngai. As a periodic teacher of Federal Indian Law, my students and I engage in many discussions of the role and ethics of gaming as we talk about the political and legal structures of indian gaming. Ngai's presentation presenting concerns regarding land use, local government, tax, and employment law. Those issues are of course present in Indian gaming concerns but with a different twist. While fascinated, my gut reaction was that it is even more complicated than I have been presenting it as and makes me tempted to drop gaming from my syllabus entirely!

Jacqueline Hand (Detroit-Mercy)

spoke on urban agriculture in Detroit with a focus on the intersection with Right to Farm laws. I was luckily enough to get a tour of some of the Detroit urban farming projects from Jacqui earlier this year and there is a lot of fodder law there for folks interested in land use. It'll be interesting to see what impact urban farming might be able to have on decaying Detroit.

I am always impressed by Nicholas Blomley (Simon Fraser, Geography) patience with engaging with law professors. As a leading voice in Law and Geography, Nick unsurprisingly discussed changing community landscapes. He is particularly interested in issues of exclusion and displacement. Many speakers have mentioned the right to exclude today but Nick draws on C.B. MacPherson to discuss the right not to be excluded.